Structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease and devices thereof

ABSTRACT

A structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease and devices thereof are disclosed which implement a structured collection procedure based on a medical use case and/or question which provides at least one or more parameters defining entry criterion, a schedule of events, adherence criterion, and exit criterion. The entry criterion establish conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data from the patient. Each event can include one or more of a performance time, patient guidance to perform the event, a request for information from the patient a request for patient action, and a request for collection of biomarker data from the patient. The adherence criterion can be used to assess whether an event performed is acceptable to addressing the medical use case and/or question, and the exit criterion establishes conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the collection procedure.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to care management of chronic diseases, and particularly to a structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease and devices thereof.

BACKGROUND

A disease which is long lasting or which reoccurs often is defined typically as a chronic disease. Known chronic diseases include, among others, depression, compulsive obsession disorder, alcoholism, asthma, autoimmune diseases (e.g., ulcerative colitis, lupus erythematosus), osteoporosis, cancer, and diabetes mellitus. Such chronic diseases require chronic care management for effective long-term treatment. After an initial diagnosis, one of the functions of chronic care management is then to optimize a patient's therapy of the chronic disease.

In the example of diabetes mellitus, which is characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from inadequate insulin secretion, insulin action, or both, it is known that diabetes manifests itself differently in each person because of each person's unique physiology that interacts with variable health and lifestyle factors such as diet, weight, stress, illness, sleep, exercise, and medication intake. Biomarkers are patient biologically derived indicators of biological or pathogenic processes, pharmacologic responses, events or conditions (e.g., aging, disease or illness risk, presence or progression, etc.). For example, a biomarker can be an objective measurement of a variable related to a disease, which may serve as an indicator or predictor of that disease. In the case of diabetes mellitus, such biomarkers include measured values for glucose, lipids, triglycerides, and the like. A biomarker can also be a set of parameters from which to infer the presence or risk of a disease, rather than a measured value of the disease itself. When properly collected and evaluated, biomarkers can provide useful information related to a medical question about the patient, as well as be used as part of a medical assessment, as a medical control, and/or for medical optimization.

For diabetes, clinicians generally treat diabetic patients according to published therapeutic guidelines such as, for example, Joslin Diabetes Center & Joslin Clinic, Clinical Guideline for Pharmacological Management of Type 2 Diabetes (2007) and Joslin Diabetes Center & Joslin Clinic, Clinical Guideline for Adults with Diabetes (2008). The guidelines may specify a desired biomarker value, e.g., a fasting blood glucose value of less than 100 mg/dl, or the clinician can specify a desired biomarker value based on the clinician's training and experience in treating patients with diabetes. However, such guidelines do not specify biomarker collection procedures for parameter adjustments to support specific therapies used in optimizing a diabetic patient's therapy. Subsequently, diabetic patients often must measure their glucose levels with little structure for collection and with little regard to lifestyle factors. Such unstructured collections of glucose levels can result in some biomarker measurements lacking interpretative context, thereby reducing the value of such measurements to clinicians and other such health care providers helping patients manage their disease.

Again, in the example of diabetes mellitus, after performing routine collections, a diabetic patient may provide the same information repeatedly to different clinicians at various times and at different locations, as the various clinicians involved in providing the patient with care, such as physicians, nurses, nutritionists, certified disease educators, and the like, are not typically located at the same place. Such information although important to chronic disease management, such as to put context to the collected biomarker data in which to help a clinician make diagnostic and/or optimization decisions, the repetitive manner of providing such information manually and/or orally can be frustrating to the diabetic patient. Additionally, a patient may be asked by different clinicians at various times to perform a number of collections in an effort to diagnose a chronic disease or to optimize therapy. However, these requests to perform such collections according to a schedule may overlap, be repeats, run counter to each other and/or provide a burden on the patient such that the patient may avoid any further attempts to diagnose their chronic disease or to optimize therapy.

In addition, if a requesting clinician does not evaluate the patient properly to see if the schedule of requested collections is possible and/or whether parameters for the collections are suitable and/or acceptable for the patient, having useful results from such collections may be unlikely. Still further, if there has not been enough suitable data collected to complete the requested collections, such that the data collected is helpful towards addressing the medical question and/or the interests of the clinician, such a request may waste the time and effort of the clinician and the patient as well as the consumables used to perform the collections. Again, such failure may discourage the patient from seeking further therapy advice.

Moreover, prior art collection devices used in facilitating a schedule of collections provide limited guidance, if any at all, and simple reminders of a collection event. Such prior art device typically need to be programmed manually by the either clinician or the patient, in which to govern the collection schedule. Such limited guidance and functionality provided by prior art collection devices can also further discourage the patient from seeking any future optimization of their therapy as performing another collection procedure in this manner may be viewed as being laborious by the patient, thereby leaving such optimization to simply guessing.

SUMMARY

It is against the above background that the embodiments of invention provide a structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease and devices thereof. The devices can implement a structured collection procedure based on a medical use case and/or medical question. The structured collection procedure can provide at least one or more parameters defining at least one entry criterion, a schedule of events, at least one adherence criterion, and at least one exit criterion. The entry criterion establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data from the patient. Each event in the schedule of events can comprise at least one or more of a performance time, patient guidance to perform the event, a request for information from the patient, a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data from the patient. The adherence criterion is used to assess qualitatively whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case, and the exit criterion establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure.

Such a structured testing method results in providing improved guidance to the patient throughout a collection procedure, and possibly a sense of accomplishment, purpose, and time well spent when completing a collection procedure. Other benefits include a reduction in consumable waste from avoiding unnecessary collection procedure requests and through ensuring that the data collected is suitable for addressing the inquiry/interest/purpose of the clinician in making the request for the collection procedure. Still other benefits include generating data which can include biomarker values that each have an interpretative context to increase the value of such measurements to clinicians in order to help improve diagnoses, and to help provide effective treatment or modification of treatment for controlling a patient's chronic disease, such as diabetes.

In one embodiment, a device for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease is disclosed, which can comprise a display, a user interface, and a processor coupled to the display and the user interface. Program instructions can also be provided that when executed by the processor causes the processor to: prompt a plurality of medical use cases or questions related to the chronic disease for selection on the display, receive a selected medical use case or question via the user interface, select automatically a structured collection procedure for the diagnostic or therapy support of the patient with the chronic disease based on the selected medical use case or question from a plurality of structured collection procedures stored in a memory, and implement the selected structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can have parameters defining a schedule of events, each of said events comprising at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data.

In another embodiment, a device for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease is disclosed and can comprise a processor, and program instructions that when executed by the processor causes the processor to retrieve automatically from memory a structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can be based on a medical use case or question of and can have parameters defining at least one entry criterion, which establishes conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data, a schedule of events, each of said events comprising at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, and at least one exit criterion which establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure. The program instructions can further cause the processor to implement automatically the schedule of events of the structured collection procedure upon the entry criterion being met at some unknown time, and end automatically the structured collection procedure upon the exit criterion being met at some unknown time.

In still another embodiment, a device for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease is disclosed and can comprise a processor, and program instructions that when executed by the processor causes the processor to retrieve automatically from memory a structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can be based on a medical use case or question of and can have parameters defining a schedule of events, each of said events comprising at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, and at least one adherence criterion which is used to qualitatively assess whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case. The program instructions can further cause the processor to implement automatically the schedule of events of the structured collection procedure, and take one or more additional actions if the adherence criterion is not met. In another embodiment, the processor can provide on a display information about the one or more additional actions.

In yet another embodiment, a device for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease is disclosed and can comprises a processor, and program instructions that when executed by the processor causes the processor to retrieve automatically from memory a structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can be based on a medical use case or question of and can have parameters defining a schedule of events, each of said events comprising at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data. The program instructions can further cause the processor to receive biomarker data according to the structured collection procedure, store the biomarker data together with data of the schedule of events as contextualized biomarker data, and calculate measured noise from the contextualized biomarker data by applying a noise function, wherein the noise function comprises one or more of measured noise, procedure noise and system noise.

In another embodiment, a structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease is disclosed and can comprise selecting a structured collection procedure on a computer for the diagnostic or therapy support, and having a processor of the computer retrieving automatically from memory the structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can be based on a medical use case and can have parameters defining at least one entry criterion which establishes conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data, a schedule of events, each of said events can comprise at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, at least one adherence criterion which is used to qualitatively assess whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case, and at least one exit criterion which establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure. The method can further comprise prescribing the selected structured collection procedure to the patient, wherein the processor of the computer provides as output the selected structured collection procedure to the patient to perform when prescribed.

In another embodiment, a collection device for performing a prescribed structured collection procedure is disclosed. The device can comprise memory storing one or more structured collection procedures and for storing patient data. The patient data can comprise one or more of collected biomarker data, a date-time stamp and other data associated with each instance of the collected biomarker data. The other data may comprise contextualized data which characterizes the associated collected biomarker. The device further can comprise a clock providing the date-time stamp; and a display for providing a selection choice for selecting a structured collection procedure from the plurality of structured collection procedures stored in the memory. Each of the plurality of structured collection procedures can comprise at least one entry criterion needed to begin the structured collection procedure, at least one exit criterion to end the structured collection procedure, and a schedule of collection events, each of the collection events can comprise at least one or more of guidance to perform the collection event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data. The device further can comprise a user interface for selecting the structured collection procedure from the plurality of structured collection procedures that are displayed; at least one biomarker reader to provide the at least one type of biomarker data specified in the structured collection procedure that is selected; and a processor coupled to the memory, the clock, the display, the user interface, and the biomarker reader. A program is provided that has instructions that when executed by the processor can cause the processor to: provide the selection choice to the display; receive the selected structured collection procedure from the plurality of structured collection procedures displayed on the display; determine whether the entry criterion of the selected structured collection procedure is met, automatically perform the schedule of collection events; store in memory the patient data resulting from each of the collection events; check data from a performed collection event whether acceptable to help address the use case; and determine whether the at least one exit criterion has been met for the selected structured collection procedure to end.

In another embodiment, a computer readable storage medium storing instruction that, when executed by a processor of a computer, can cause the processor to perform a structured collection procedure to obtain contextualized biomarker data from a patient is disclosed. The method can comprise retrieving automatically from an electronic component the structured collection procedure. The structured collection procedure can be based on a medical use case and can have one or more parameters defining: at least one entry criterion which establishes conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data, a schedule of events, each of the events can comprise at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action(s), a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, at least one adherence criterion which is used to qualitatively assess whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case, and at least one exit criterion which establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure. The method can further comprise permitting adjustment of the parameters of the selected structured collection procedure; and prescribing the selected structured collection procedure to the patient, wherein the processor of the computer can provide as output the selected structured collection procedure to the patient to perform when prescribed.

Embodiments of the invention can be implemented, for example, as follows: a paper tool; diabetes software integrated into a collection device such as a blood glucose meter; diabetes software integrated into a personal digital assistant, handheld computer, or mobile phone; diabetes software integrated into a device reader coupled to a computer; diabetes software operating on a computer such as a personal computer; and diabetes software accessed remotely through the internet.

These and other advantages and features of the invention disclosed herein, will be made more apparent from the description, drawings and claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention can be best understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a chronic care management system for a diabetes patient and a clinician along with others having an interest in the chronic care management of the patient according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2 and 2A are diagrams showing embodiments of a system suitable for implementing a structured testing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a collection device embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a depiction in tabular format of a data record embodiment created from using a structured testing method on the collection device of FIG. 3 according to the present invention.

FIG. 5A depicts a method of creating a structured collection procedure for a medical use case and/or question according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5B and 5C show parameters defining a structured collection procedure and factors which can be considered to optimize a patient's therapy using the structured collection procedure, respectively, according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, and 6E show various structured collection procedures embodiments defined according to the present invention.

FIG. 7A depicts a structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7B conceptually illustrates one example of a pre-defined structured collection procedure, and a method for customizing the pre-defined structured collection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A shows a method for performing a structured collection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8B and 8C show a method of implementing a structured collection procedure via a graphical user interface provided on a collection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a method for performing a structured collection procedure to obtain contextualized biomarker data from a patient according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of contextualized biomarker data intermingled with non-contextualized biomarker data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a diagram of type 2 diabetes disease progression.

FIG. 12 shows a method for adjusting parameters to bring a contextualized biomarker of concern into a guideline based target range according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a diagram of a contextualized biomarker of concern adjusted into a guideline based target range according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 show a diagram of the relationship of the component parts of a noise function to estimated noise according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method for creation of a noise function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 16A and 16B show a method of collecting contextualized biomarker data for diabetes diagnostics and therapy support according to a use case embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be described below relative to various illustrative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a number of different applications and embodiments and is not specifically limited in its application to the particular embodiments depicted herein. In particular, the present invention will be discussed below in connection with diabetes management via sampling blood, although those of ordinary skill will recognize that the present invention could be modified to be used with other types of fluids or analytes besides glucose, and/or useful in managing other chronic diseases besides diabetes.

As used herein with the various illustrated embodiments described below, the follow terms include, but are not limited to, the following meanings.

The term “biomarker” can mean a physiological variable measured to provide data relevant to a patient such as for example, a blood glucose value, an interstitial glucose value, an HbA1c value, a heart rate measurement, a blood pressure measurement, lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, and the like.

The term “contextualizing” can mean documenting and interrelating conditions that exists or will occur surrounding a collection of a specific biomarker measurement. Preferably, data about documenting and interrelating conditions that exists or will occur surrounding a collection of a specific biomarker are stored together with the collected biomarker data and are linked to it. In particular, a further assessment of the collected biomarker data takes into account the data about documenting and interrelating conditions so that not only the data as such are evaluated but also the link between data to which it is contextualized. The data about documenting and interrelating conditions can include for example information about the time, food and/ or exercises which occurs surrounding a collection of a specific biomarker measurement and/or simultaneously thereto. For example, the context of a structured collection procedure according in an embodiment to the present invention can be documented by utilizing entry criterion for verifying a fasting state with the user before accepting a biomarker value during a Basal titration optimization focused testing procedure.

The term “contextualized biomarker data” can mean the information on the interrelated conditions in which a specific biomarker measurement was collected combined with the measured value for the specific biomarker. In particular, the biomarker data are stored together with the information on the interrelated conditions under which a specific biomarker measurement was collected and are linked thereto.

The term “criteria” can mean one or more criterions, and can be at least one or more of a guideline(s), rule(s), characteristic(s), and dimension(s) used to judge whether one or more conditions are satisfied or met to begin, accept, and/or end one or more procedural steps, actions, and/or values.

The term “adherence” can mean that a person following a structured collection procedure performs requested procedural steps appropriately. For example, the biomarker data should be measured under prescribed conditions of the structured collection procedure. If then the prescribed conditions are given for a biomarker measurement the adherence is defined as appropriate. For examples, the prescribed conditions are time related conditions and/ or exemplarily can include eating of meals, taking a fasting sample, eating a type of meal with a requested window of time, taking a fasting sample at a requested time, sleeping a minimum amount of time, and the like. The adherence can be defined as appropriate or not appropriate for a structured collection procedure or a single data point in particular of a contextualized biomarker data. Preferably, the adherence can be defined as appropriate or not appropriate by a range of a prescribed condition(s) or by a selectively determined prescribed condition(s). Moreover the adherence can be calculated as a rate of adherence describing in which extent the adherence is given for a structured collection procedure or a single data point in particular of a contextualized biomarker data.

The term “adherence event” can mean when a person executing a structured collection procedure fails to perform a procedural step. For example, if a person did not collect data when requested by the collection device, the adherence is determined as not appropriate resulting in an adherence event. In another example, adherence criteria could be a first criterion for the patient to fast 6 hours and a second criterion for collecting a fasting bG value at a requested time. In this example, if the patient provides the bG sampling at the requested time but fasted only 3 hours before providing, then although the second adherence criterion is met, the first adherence criterion is not, and hence an adherence event for the first criterion would occur.

The term “violation event” is a form of an adherence event in which the person executing the structured collection (testing) procedure (protocol) does not administer a therapeutic at a recommended time, does administer a recommended amount, or both.

The term “adherence criterion” can include adherence and can also mean a basis for comparison (e.g., assessment) of a measured value, a value related to a measured value and/ or a calculated value with a defined value or defined range of the value wherein based on the comparison data are accepted with approval and positive reception. Adherence criterion can take into account time related values and/ or adherence in one embodiment, but also can take into account noise in other embodiments, and the like. Furthermore, adherence criterion can be applied to contextualized biomarker data so that a biomarker data is accepted depending on a comparison of the contextualized data about documenting and interrelating conditions that exists or occurs surrounding the collection of the specific biomarker. Adherence criterion can be akin to a sanity check for a given piece of information, or group of information. Preferably, the single data point/ information or group of data or information is rejected if the accepted criterion is not fulfilled. In particular, such rejected data are then not used for further calculations which are used to provide a therapy recommendation. Mainly the rejected data are only used to assess the adherence and/or to trigger automatically at least one further action. For example, such a triggered action prompts the user then to follow a structured collection procedure or a single requested action so that based on that the adherence criterion can be fulfilled.

The term “data event request” can mean an inquiry for a collection of data at a single point in space-time defined by a special set of circumstances, for example, defined by time-related or not time-related events.

The term “decentralized disease status assessment” can mean a determination of the degree or extent of progression of a disease performed by using a biomarker measurement of interest to deliver a value without sending a sample to a laboratory for assessment.

The term “medical use case or question” can mean at least one or more of a procedure, situation, condition, and/or question providing an uncertainty about the factuality of existence of some medical facts, combined with a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena. Medical use case or question can be already deposited and stored in the system so that the user can select between different medical use cases or questions. Alternatively, the medical use case or question can be defined by the user itself.

The terms “focused”, “structured”, and “episodic” are used herein interchangeably with the term “testing” and can mean a predefined sequence in which to conduct the testing.

The terms “software” and “program” may be used interchangeably herein.

FIG. 1 shows a chronic care management system 10 for a diabetes patient(s) 12 and a clinician(s) 14 along with others 16 having an interest in the chronic care management of the patient 12. Patient 12, having dysglycemia, may include persons with a metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. The others 16 with an interest in the patient's care may include family members, friends, support groups, and religious organizations all of which can influence the patient's conformance with therapy. The patient 12 may have access to a patient computer 18, such as a home computer, which can connect to a public network 50 (wired or wireless), such as the internet, cellular network, etc., and couple to a dongle, docking station, or device reader 22 for communicating with an external portable device, such as a portable collection device 24. An example of a device reader is shown in the manual “Accu-Chek® Smart Pix Device Reader User's Manual” (2008) available from Roche Diagnostics.

The collection device 24 can be essentially any portable electronic device that can function as an acquisition mechanism for determining and storing digitally a biomarker value(s) according to a structured collection procedure, and which can function to run the structured collection procedure and the method of the present invention. Greater details regarding various illustrated embodiments of the structured collection procedure are provided hereafter in later sections. In a preferred embodiment, the collection device 24 can be a self-monitoring blood glucose meter 26 or a continuous glucose monitor 28. An example of a blood glucose meter is the Accu-Chek® Active meter, and the Accu-Chek® Aviva meter described in the booklet “Accu-Chek® Aviva Blood Glucose Meter Owner's Booklet (2007), portions of which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,368 B1 entitled “Meter and method of using the meter for determining the concentration of a component of a fluid” assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference. An example of a continuous glucose monitor is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,133 “Method and device for continuous monitoring of the concentration of an analyte” (June 17, 2008) assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In addition to the collection device 24, the patient 12 can use a variety of products to manage his or her diabetes including: test strips 30 carried in a vial 32 for use in the collection device 24; software 34 which can operate on the patient computer 18, the collection device 24, a handheld computing device 36, such as a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, and/or a mobile phone; and paper tools 38. Software 34 can be pre-loaded or provided either via a computer readable medium 40 or over the public network 50 and loaded for operation on the patient computer 18, the collection device 24, the clinician computer/office workstation 25, and the handheld computing device 36, if desired. In still other embodiments, the software 34 can also be integrated into the device reader 22 that is coupled to the computer (e.g., computers 18 or 25) for operation thereon, or accessed remotely through the public network 50, such as from a server 52.

The patient 12 can also use for certain diabetes therapies additional therapy devices 42 and other devices 44. Additionally, therapy devices 42 can include devices such as an ambulatory infusion pump 46, an insulin pen 48, and a lancing device 51. An example of an ambulatory insulin pump 46 include but not limited thereto the Accu-Chek® Spirit pump described in the manual “Accu-Chek® Spirit Insulin Pump System Pump User Guide” (2007) available from Disetronic Medical Systems AG. The other devices 44 can be medical devices that provide patient data such as blood pressure, fitness devices that provide patient data such as exercise information, and elder care device that provide notification to care givers. The other devices 44 can be configured to communicate with each other according to standards planned by Continua® Health Alliance.

The clinicians 14 for diabetes are diverse and can include e.g., nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, endocrinologists, and other such health care providers. The clinician 14 typically has access to a clinician computer 25, such as a clinician office computer, which can also be provided with the software 34. A healthcare record system 27, such as Microsoft® HealthVault™ and Google™ Health, may also be used by the patient 12 and the clinician 14 on computers 18, 25 to exchange information via the public network 50 or via other network means (LANs, WANs, VPNs, etc.), and to store information such as collection data from the collection device 24 to an electronic medical record of the patient e.g., EMR 53 (FIG. 2A) which can be provided to and from computer 18, 25 and/or server 52.

Most patients 12 and clinicians 14 can interact over the public network 50 with each other and with others having computers/servers 52. Such others can include the patient's employer 54, a third party payer 56, such as an insurance company who pays some or all of the patient's healthcare expenses, a pharmacy 58 that dispenses certain diabetic consumable items, a hospital 60, a government agency 62, which can also be a payer, and companies 64 providing healthcare products and services for detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The patient 12 can also grant permissions to access the patient's electronic health record to others, such as the employer 54, the payer 56, the pharmacy 58, the hospital 60, and the government agencies 62 via the healthcare record system 27, which can reside on the clinician computer 25 and/or one or more servers 52. Reference hereafter is also made to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 shows a system embodiment suitable for implementing a structured testing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, which in another embodiment can be a part of the chronic care management system 10 and communicate with such components, via conventional wired or wireless communication means. The system 41 can include the clinician computer 25 that is in communication with a server 52 as well as the collection device 24. Communications between the clinician computer 25 and the server 52 can be facilitated via a communication link to the public network 50, to a private network 66, or combinations thereof. The private network 66 can be a local area network or a wide are network (wired or wireless) connecting to the public network 50 via a network device 68 such as a (web) server, router, modem, hub, and the likes.

In one embodiment, the server 52 can be a central repository for a plurality of structured collection procedures (or protocols) 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, in which the details of a few exemplary structured collection procedures are provided in later sections. The server 52, as well as the network device 68, can function also as a data aggregator for completed ones of the structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d. Accordingly, in such an embodiment, data of a completed collection procedure(s) from a collection device of the patient 12 can then be provided from the server 52 and/or network device 68 to the clinician computer 25 when requested in response to a retrieval for such patient data.

In one embodiment, one or more of the plurality of structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d on the server 52 can be provided over the public network 50, such as through a secure web interface 55 (FIG. 2A, showing another embodiment of the system 41) implemented on the patient computer 18, the clinician computer 25, and/or the collection device 24. In another embodiment, the clinician computer 25 can serve as the interface (wired or wireless) 72 between the server 52 and the collection device 24. In still another embodiment, the structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, as well as software 34, may be provided on a computer readable medium 40 and loaded directed on the patient computer 18, the clinician computer 25, and/or the collection device 24. In still another embodiment, the structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d may be provided pre-loaded (embedded) in memory of the collection device 24. In still other embodiments, new/updated/modified structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d may be sent between the patient computer 18, the clinician computer 25, the server 52 and/or the collection device 24 via the public network 50, the private network 66, via a direct device connection (wired or wireless) 74, or combinations thereof. Accordingly, in one embodiment the external devices e.g., computer 18 and 25, can be used to establish a communication link 72, 74 between the collection device 24 and still further electronic devices such as other remote Personal Computer (PC), and/or servers such as through the public network 50, such as the Internet and/or other communication networks (e.g., LANs, WANs, VPNs, etc.), such as private network 66.

The clinician computer 25, as a conventional personal computer/workstation, can include a processor 76 which executes programs, such as software 34, and such as from memory 78 and/or computer readable medium 40. Memory 78 can include system memory (RAM, ROM, EEPROM, etc.), and storage memory, such as hard drives and/or flash memory (internal or external). The clinician computer 25 can also include a display driver 80 to interface a display 82 with the processor 76, input/output connections 84 for connecting user interface devices 86, such as a keyboard and mouse (wired or wireless), and computer readable drives 88 for portable memory and discs, such as computer readable medium 40. The clinician computer 25 can further include communication interfaces 90 for connections to the public network 50 and other devices, such as collection device 24 (wired or wireless), and a bus interface 92 for connecting the above mentioned electronic components to the processor 76. Reference hereafter is now made to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating the portable collection device 24 depicted in FIG. 2. In the illustrated embodiment, the collection device 24 can include one or more microprocessors, such as processor 102, which may be a central processing unit comprising at least one more single or multi-core and cache memory, which can be connected to a bus 104, which may include data, memory, control and/or address buses. The collection device 24 can include the software 34, which provides instruction codes that causes a processor 102 of the device to implement the methods of the present invention that are discussed hereafter in later sections. The collection device 24 may include a display interface 106 providing graphics, text, and other data from the bus 104 (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on a display 108. The display interface 106 may be a display driver of an integrated graphics solution that utilizes a portion of main memory 110 of the collection device 24, such as random access memory (RAM) and processing from the processor 102 or may be a dedicated graphic processing unit. In another embodiment, the display interface 106 and display 108 can additionally provide a touch screen interface for providing data to the collection device 24 in a well-known manner.

Main memory 110 in one embodiment can be random access memory (RAM), and in other embodiments may include other memory such as a ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the collection device 24 can include secondary memory 112, which may include, for example, a hard disk drive 114 and/or a computer readable medium drive 116 for the computer readable medium 40, representing for example, at least one of a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a flash memory connector (e.g., USB connector, Firewire connector, PC card slot), etc. The drive 116 reads from and/or writes to the computer readable medium 40 in a well-known manner. Computer readable medium 40, represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk (CD or DVD), flash drive, PC card, etc. which is read by and written to by the drive 116. As will be appreciated, the computer readable medium 40 can have stored therein the software 34 and/or structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d as well as data resulting from completed collections performed according to one or more of the collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 112 may include other means for allowing the software 34, the collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, other computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the collection device 24. Such means may include, for example, a removable storage unit 120 and an interface connector 122. Examples of such removable storage units/interfaces can include a program cartridge and cartridge interface, a removable memory chip (e.g., ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.) and associated socket, and other removable storage units 120 (e.g. hard drives) and interface connector 122 which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 120 to the collection device 24.

The collection device 24 in one embodiment can include a communication module 124. The communication module 124 allows software (e.g., the software 34, the collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d) and data (e.g., data resulting from completed collections performed according to one or more of the collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d) to be transferred between the collection device 24 and an external device(s) 126. Examples of communication module 124 may include one or more of a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port (e.g., USB, firewire, serial, parallel, etc.), a PC or PCMCIA slot and card, a wireless transceiver, and combinations thereof. The external device(s) 126 can be the patient computer 18, the clinician computer 25, the handheld computing devices 36, such as a laptop computer, a personal digital assistance (PDA), a mobile (cellular) phone, and/or a dongle, a docking station, or device reader 22. In such an embodiment, the external device 126 may provided and/or connect to one or more of a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port (e.g., USB, firewire, serial, parallel, etc.), a PCMCIA slot and card, a wireless transceiver, and combinations thereof for providing communication over the public network 50 or private network 66, such as with the clinician computer 25 or server 52. Software and data transferred via communication module 124 can be in the form of wired or wireless signals 128, which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being sent and received by communication module 124. For example, as is known, signals 128 may be sent between communication module 124 and the external device(s) 126 using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, an infrared link, other communications channels, and combinations thereof. Specific techniques for connecting electronic devices through wired and/or wireless connections (e.g. USB and Bluetooth, respectively) are well known in the art.

In another embodiment, the collection device 24 can be used with the external device 132, such as provided as a handheld computer or a mobile phone, to perform actions such as prompt a patient to take an action, acquire a data event, and perform calculations on information. An example of a collection device combined with such an external device 126 provided as a hand held computer is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/424,757 filed Jun. 16, 2006 entitled “System and method for collecting patient information from which diabetes therapy may be determined,” assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference. Another example of a handheld computer is shown in the user guide entitled “Accu-Chek® Pocket Compass Software with Bolus Calculator User Guide” (2007) available from Roche Diagnostics.

In the illustrative embodiment, the collection device 24 can provide a measurement engine 138 for reading a biosensor 140. The biosensor 140, which in one embodiment is the disposable test strip 30 (FIG. 1), is used with the collection device 24 to receive a sample such as for example, of capillary blood, which is exposed to an enzymatic reaction and measured by electrochemistry techniques, optical techniques, or both by the measurement engine 138 to measure and provide a biomarker value, such as for example, a blood glucose level. An example of a disposable test strip and measurement engine is disclosed in U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2005/0016844 A1 “Reagent stripe for test strip” (Jan. 27, 2005), and assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference. In other embodiments, the measurement engine 138 and biosensor 140 can be of a type used to provide a biomarker value for other types of sampled fluids or analytes besides or in addition to glucose, heart rate, blood pressure measurement, and combinations thereof. Such an alternative embodiment is useful in embodiments where values from more then one biomarker type are requested by a structured collection procedure according to the present invention. In still another embodiment, the biosensor 140 may be a sensor with an indwelling catheter(s) or being a subcutaneous tissue fluid sampling device(s), such as when the collection device 24 is implemented as a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) in communication with an infusion device, such as pump 46 (FIG. 1). In still another embodiments, the collection device 24 can be a controller implementing the software 34 and communicating between the infusion device (e.g., ambulatory infusion pump 46 and electronic insulin pen 48) and the biosensor 140.

Data, comprising at least the information collected by the biosensor 140, is provided by the measurement engine 138 to the processor 102 which may execute a computer program stored in memory 110 to perform various calculations and processes using the data. For example, such a computer program is described by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/492,667, filed Jun. 26, 2009, titled “Method, System, and Computer Program Product for Providing Both an Estimated True Mean Blood Glucose Value and Estimated Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1C) Value from Structured Spot Measurements Of Blood Glucose,” and assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference. The data from the measurement engine 138 and the results of the calculation and processes by the processor 102 using the data is herein referred to as self-monitored data. The self-monitored data may include, but not limited thereto, the glucose values of a patient 12, the insulin dose values, the insulin types, and the parameter values used by processor 102 to calculate future glucose values, supplemental insulin doses, and carbohydrate supplement amounts as well as such values, doses, and amounts. Such data along with a date-time stamp 169 for each measured glucose value and administered insulin dose value is stored in a data file 145 of memory 110 and/or 112. An internal clock 144 of the collection device 24 can supply the current date and time to processor 102 for such use.

The collection device 24 can further provide a user interface 146, such as buttons, keys, a trackball, touchpad, touch screen, etc. for data entry, program control and navigation of selections, choices and data, making information requests, and the likes. In one embodiment, the user interface 146 can comprises one or more buttons 147, 149 for entry and navigation of the data provided in memory 110 and/or 112. In one embodiment, the user can use one or more of buttons 147, 149 to enter (document) contextualizing information, such as data related to the everyday lifestyle of the patient 12 and to acknowledge that prescribed tasks are completed. Such lifestyle data may relate to food intake, medication use, energy levels, exercise, sleep, general health conditions and overall well-being sense of the patient 12 (e.g., happy, sad, rested, stressed, tired, etc.). Such lifestyle data can be recorded into memory 110 and/or 112 of the collection device 24 as part of the self-monitored data via navigating through a selection menu displayed on display 108 using buttons 147, 149 and/or via a touch screen user interface provided by the display 108. It is to be appreciated that the user interface 146 can also be used to display on the display 108 the self monitored data or portions thereof, such as used by the processor 102 to display measured glucose levels as well as any entered data.

In one embodiment, the collection device 24 can be switched on by pressing any one of the buttons 147, 149 or any combination thereof. In another embodiment, in which the biosensor 140 is a test-strip, the collection device 24 can be automatically switched on when the test-strip is inserted into the collection device 24 for measurement by the measurement engine 138 of a glucose level in a sample of blood placed on the test-strip. In one embodiment, the collection device 24 can be switched off by holding down one of the buttons 147, 149 for a pre-defined period of time, or in another embodiment can be shut down automatically after a pre-defined period of non-use of the user interface 146.

An indicator 148 can also be connected to processor 102, and which can operate under the control of processor 102 to emit audible, tactile (vibrations), and/or visual alerts/reminders to the patient of daily times for bG measurements and events, such as for example, to take a meal, of possible future hypoglycemia, and the likes. A suitable power supply 150 is also provided to power the collection device 24 as is well known to make the device portable.

As mentioned above previously, the collection device 24 may be pre-loaded with the software 34 or by provided therewith via the computer readable medium 40 as well as received via the communication module 124 by signal 128 directly or indirectly though the external device 132 and/or network 50. When provided in the latter matter, the software 34 when received by the processor 102 of the collection device 24 is stored in main memory 110 (as illustrated) and/or secondary memory 112. The software 34 contains instructions, when executed by the processor 102, enables the processor to perform the features/functions of the present invention as discussed herein in later sections. In another embodiment, the software 34 may be stored in the computer readable medium 40 and loaded by the processor 102 into cache memory to cause the processor 102 to perform the features/functions of the invention as described herein. In another embodiment, the software 34 is implemented primarily in hardware logic using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware state machine to perform the feature/functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software.

In an example software embodiment of the invention, the methods described hereafter can be implemented in the C++ programming language, but could be implemented in other programs such as, but not limited to, Visual Basic, C, C#, Java or other programs available to those skilled in the art. In still other embodiment, the program 34 may be implemented using a script language or other proprietary interpretable language used in conjunction with an interpreter. Reference hereafter is also made to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 depicts in tabular form a data file 145 containing data records 152 of self-monitored data 154 resulting from a structured collection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The data records 152 (e.g., rows) along with the self-monitoring data 154 (e.g., various one of the columns) can also provide associated therewith contextual information 156 (e.g., other various ones of the columns as well as via row and column header information). Such contextual information 156 can be collected either automatically, such as for example via input received automatically from the measurement engine, the biosensor, and/or any one of the other devices, or via input received from the user interface which was manually enter by the patient in response to a collection request (e.g., a question displayed by the processor 102 on the display 108) during the structured collection procedure. Accordingly, as such contextual information 156 can be provided with each data record 152 in a preferred embodiment, such information is readily available to a physician and no further collection of such information is necessarily needed to be provided again by the patient either manually or orally after completing the structured collection procedure. In another embodiment, if such contextual information 156 and/or additional contextual information is collected after completion of a structured collection procedure according to the present invention, such information may be provided in the associated data file and/or record 145, 152 at a later time such as via one of the computers 18, 25. Such information would then be associated with the self-monitored data in the data file 145, and thus would not need to be provided again orally or manually. Such a process in the latter embodiment may be needed in the situation where the structured collection procedure is implemented as or partly as a paper tool 38 which is used with a collection device incapable of running the software 34 implementing such a structured collection procedure.

It is to be appreciated that the date file 145 (or portions thereof, such as only the self-monitored data 154) can be sent/downloaded (wired or wireless) from the collection device 24 via the communication module 124 to another electronic device, such the external device 132 (PC, PDA, or cellular telephone), or via the network 50 to the clinician computer 25. Clinicians can use diabetes software provided on the clinician computer 25 to evaluate the received self-monitored data 154 as well as the contextual information 156 of the patient 12 for therapy results. An example of some of the functions which may be incorporated into the diabetes software and which is configured for a personal computer is the Accu-Chek® 360 Diabetes Management System available from Roche Diagnostics that is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/999,968 filed Dec. 7, 2007, titled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SETTING TIME BLOCK,” and assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In a preferred embodiment, the collection device 24 can be provided as portable blood glucose meter, which is used by the patient 12 for recording self-monitored data comprising insulin dosage readings and spot measured glucose levels. Examples of such bG meters as mentioned above previously include but are not limited to, the Accu-Chek® Active meter and the Accu-Chek® Aviva system both by Roche Diagnostics, Inc. which are compatible with the Accu-Chek® 360° Diabetes management software to download test results to a personal computer or the Accu-Chek® Pocket Compass Software for downloading and communication with a PDA. Accordingly, it is to be appreciated that the collection device 24 can include the software and hardware necessary to process, analyze and interpret the self monitored data in accordance with predefined flow sequences (as described below in detail) and generate an appropriate data interpretation output. In one embodiment, the results of the data analysis and interpretation performed upon the stored patient data by the collection device 24 can be displayed in the form of a report, trend-monitoring graphs, and charts to help patients manage their physiological condition and support patient-doctor communications. In other embodiments, the bG data from the collection device 24 may be used to generated reports (hardcopy or electronic) via the external device 132 and/or the patient computer 18 and/or the clinician computer 25.

The collection device 24 can further provide the user and/or his or her clinician with at least one or more of the possibilities comprising: a) editing data descriptions, e. g. the title and description of a record; b) saving records at a specified location, in particular in user-definable directories as described above; c) recalling records for display; d) searching records according to different criteria (date, time, title, description etc.); e) sorting records according to different criteria (e.g., values of the bG level, date, time, duration, title, description, etc.); f) deleting records; g) exporting records; and/or h) performing data comparisons, modifying records, excluding records as is well known.

As used herein, lifestyle can be described in general as a pattern in an individual's habits such as meals, exercise, and work schedule. The individual additionally may be on medications such as insulin therapy or orals that they are required to take in a periodic fashion. Influence of such action on glucose is implicitly considered by the present invention.

It is to be appreciated that the processor 102 of the collection device 24 can implement one or more structured collection procedures 70 provided in memory 110 and/or 112. Each structured collection procedure 70 in one embodiment can be stand-alone software, thereby providing the necessary program instructions which when executed by the processor 102 causes the processor to perform the structure collection procedure 70 as well as other prescribed functions. In other embodiments, each structured collection procedure 70 can be part of the software 34, and can be then be selectively executed by the processor 102 either via receiving a selection from a menu list provided in the display 108 from the user interface 146 in one embodiment or via activation of a particular user interface, such as a structured collection procedure run mode button (not shown) provided to the collection device 24 in another embodiment. It is to be appreciated that the software 34, likewise, provides the necessary program instructions which when executed by the processor 102 causes the processor to perform the structure collection procedure 70 as well as other prescribed functions of the software 34 discussed herein. One suitable example of having a selectable structured collection procedure provided as a selectable mode of a collection meter is disclosed by in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/491,523, filed Jun. 25, 2009, titled “Episodic Blood Glucose Monitoring System With An Interactive Graphical User Interface And Methods Thereof,” assigned to Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In still another embodiment, a command instruction can be sent from the clinician computer 25 and received by the processor 102 via the communication module 124, which places the collection device 24 in a collection mode which runs automatically the structured collection procedure 70. Such a command instruction may specify which of the one or more structured collection procedures to run and/or provide a structured collection procedure to run. In still another embodiment, a list of defined medical use cases or medical questions can be presented on the display 108 by the processor 102, and a particular structured collection procedure 70 can be automatically chosen by the processor 102 from a plurality of structured collection procedures (e.g., procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d) depending on the selection of the defined medical use cases or medical questions received by the processor 102 via the user interface 146.

In still another embodiment, after selection, the structured collection procedure(s) 70 can be provided through the computer readable medium e.g., 40 and loaded by the collection device 24, downloaded from computer 18 or 25, the other device(s) 132, or server 52. Server 52, for example, may be a healthcare provider or company providing such pre-defined structured collection procedures 70 for downloading according to a selected defined medical use case or question. It is to be appreciated that the structured collection procedure(s) 70 may be developed by a healthcare company (e.g. company 64) and implemented via the public network 50 through a webpage and/or made available for downloading on server 52, such as illustrated in FIG. 2. In still other embodiments, notices that a new structured collection procedure 70 is available for use on the collection device 24 to help address a particular use case/medical question that a user (e.g., healthcare provider and patient) may have can be provided in any standard fashion, such for via postal letters/cards, email, text messaging, tweets, and the likes.

In some embodiments, as mentioned above previously, a paper tool 38 can perform some of the functions provided by the diabetes software 34. An example of some of the functions which may be incorporated into the diabetes software 34 and which is configured as a paper tool 38 is the Accu-Chek® 360 View Blood Glucose Analysis System paper form available from Roche Diagnostics also disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/040,458 filed Feb. 29, 2007 entitled “Device and method for assessing blood glucose control,” assigned to Roche Diagnostic Operations, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In still another embodiment, the software 34 can be implemented on the continuous glucose monitor 28 (FIG. 1). In this manner, the continuous glucose monitor 28 can be used to obtain time-resolved data. Such time-resolved data can be useful to identify fluctuations and trends that would otherwise go unnoticed with spot monitoring of blood glucose levels and standard HbA1c tests. Such as, for example, low overnight glucose levels, high blood glucose levels between meals, and early morning spikes in blood glucose levels as well as how diet and physical activity affect blood glucose along with the effect of therapy changes.

In addition to collection device 24 and software 34, clinicians 14 can prescribe other diabetes therapy devices for patients 12 such as an ambulatory insulin pump 46 as well as electronically based insulin pen 48 (FIG. 1). The insulin pump 46 typically includes configuration software such as that disclosed in the manual “Accu-Chek® Insulin Pump Configuration Software” also available from Disetronic Medical Systems AG. The insulin pump 46 can record and provide insulin dosage and other information, as well as the electronically based insulin pen 48, to a computer, and thus can be used as another means for providing biomarker data as requested by the structured collection procedure 70 (FIG. 2) according to the present invention.

It is to be appreciated that, and as mentioned above previously, one or more of the method steps discussed hereafter can be configured as a paper tool 38 (FIG. 1), but preferably all the method steps are facilitated electronically on system 41 (FIG. 2) or on any electronic device/computer, such as collection device 24, having a processor and memory as a program(s) residing in memory. As is known, when a computer executes the program, instructions codes of the program cause the processor of the computer to perform the method steps associated therewith. In still other embodiments, some or all of the method steps discussed hereafter can be configured on computer readable medium 40 storing instruction codes of a program that, when executed by a computer, cause the processor of the computer to perform the method steps associated therewith. These method steps are now discussed in greater detail hereafter with reference made to FIGS. 5A and 5B.

Create a Structured Collection Procedure

FIG. 5A depicts a method 200 of creating a structured collection procedure 70 illustrated by FIG. 5B for a medical use case or question which may be implemented in any one of the above described devices 18, 24, 25, 26, 28, 36, 52 as stand alone software, as part of the diabetes software 34 or portions there of as part of paper tool 38. In step 202, a medical use case or question, hereafter referred to generally as use case(s), is selected and/or can be defined. It is to be appreciated that a use case may be, for example, one selected from the following medical use cases or questions: a desire to know the effects of eating a particular food; a desire to know the best time to take medication before and/or after with a meal; and a desire to know the effects of exercise on bG levels. Other use cases may be questions concerning finding a diagnosis, how best to initialize therapy for a patient, finding a determination of status of a patient disease progression, finding the best ways to optimize a patient therapy, and the like. Still other examples can be providing such structured collection procedures 70 which can be used to help address medical questions regarding fasting blood glucose, pre-prandial glucose values, postprandial glucose values, and the like. Other medical questions can be to control the biomarker in a predefined context, to optimize the biomarker in a predefined context, related to therapy onset, type of therapy, oral mono-therapy, oral combination therapy, insulin therapy, lifestyle therapy, adherence to therapy, therapy efficacy, insulin injection or inhalation, type of insulin, split of insulin in basal and bolus, and the likes. For example, medical questions regarding oral mono-therapy and oral combination could include those involving sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, GLP-1 analogs, taspoglutide, PPAR dual alpha/gamma agonists, aleglitazar. The selected use case can be assigned to a medical use case parameter 220 depicted in FIG. 5B.

In step 204, the situation or problem surrounding the selected use case can be defined. This can be accomplished via looking at all the factors which may affect a change in the use case. For example, in the use case of desiring to know how best to optimize a patient's therapy some factors to look at may include stress, menstrual cycle, pre-dawn effect, background insulin, exercise, bolus timing with respect to a meal, basal rate, insulin sensitivity, post-prandial behavior, and the like such as shown by FIG. 5C.

In step 206, a determination can be made as to what kinds of analysis can be used to address or shed light on the situation or the problem. Such analysis may be, for example, selected from the following: evaluating the change in fasting blood glucose (FPG) values over the course of the collection procedure 70, monitoring one or more particular value over the duration of the collection procedure 70, determining an insulin to carbohydrate (I:C) ratio, determining insulin sensitivity, determining best time for administering a drug with respect to another variable, such as meal(s), and the like. In step 208, a sampling group determination can be made as to which information has to be collected, such as what biomarker(s) and the context(s) in which the biomarkers shall be collected, as well as when this information needs to be collected to conduct the analysis. For example, the sampling group can be defined as a string of data objects, each of which consists of: target type, e.g., time based which can use a target time (e.g., used for an alerting feature), a lower time window bound, an upper time window bound, etc., or data based which defines a data type (single, aggregate, or formula), the conditions for accepting the data (e.g., none, below a value, above a value, a formula, etc.), the type of collection (e.g., user input, sensor, data, etc.), as well as any reminder screen text (e.g., static, and/or dynamic in both formatting and value insertion) for each collection. The result of this process is a schedule of collection events 222 (FIG. 5B). Next in step 210, the manner in which each or a group of the schedule of collection events 222 is/are to be conducted in order to be useful for addressing the situation or problem of the selected use case is then determined. This results in one or more adherence criterions 224. In addition to and/or instead of the manner for performing a collection, the adherence criterion(s) 224 may also be based on one or more biomarker values falling into a pre-defined range or is equal to a certain pre-defined value. In other embodiments, the adherence criterion(s) can be a formula(s) which uses a biomarker datum or group of such data to determine if the resulting value falls into the pre-defined range or is equal to a certain pre-defined value.

For example, adherence criteria 224 can describe the parameters around the events 237 that the patient 12 needs to perform such as tests within a certain window, fasting for a given amount of time, sleeping for a given amount of time, exercise, low stress, not menstruating, etc. As such, an adherence criterion 224 can establish the context of the information about to be provided. Adherence criteria 224 can also be used as mentioned above previously in another context to provide an assessment of whether the data is acceptable, and when used in such a context may be referenced to as “acceptance” criteria. For example, before a sample is taken, the adherence criteria 224 can establish whether steps leading up to taking of the sample are accomplished. For example, the processor 102 in response to a request 240 displays the question, “Have you been fasting for the last 8 hours?”, wherein a “Yes” response received by the processor via the user interface 146 meets the adherence criterion 224 for this step. In another example, after the sample is taken, the processor 102 can assess the received data for reasonableness using other adherence (acceptance) criterion(s). For example, based on prior data, a fasting bG sample should be between 120-180 mg/dl, but the receives value was of 340 mg/dl, and thus fails such adherence (acceptance) criteria since being out of the predefined range for an acceptable value. In such an example, an adherence event 242 occurs wherein the processor 102 could prompt for an additional sample. In such a case, if the re-sampling fails too (i.e., not between 120-180 mg/dl), the assessment provided by the processor 102 is that the patient 12 has not fasted, and thus the processor 102 as instructed by the adherence criterion upon a failing of the re-sampling extend automatically the events 237 in the schedule of events 222 accordingly.

Next in step 212, the condition(s) and context(s) in which the schedule of events 222 is to be started and ended can be determined. This results in one or more entry criterions 226 and exit criterions 228 being provided for the schedule of events 222 as well as possibly for a group of other schedule of events to which the schedule of events 222 belongs if providing a package of structured collection procedures, e.g., procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d, which may run concurrently and/or sequentially one after the other.

For example, the one or more entry criterions 226 can be used to determine whether the patient meets the conditions to use the collection procedure by the processor 102 checking that, for example, the patient 12 meets the entry criterion 226 based on current age being in a range, HbA1c being in a range, that the patient has a particular disease, has had the disease over a minimum period of time, has a Body Mass Index (BMI) in a range, had a Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) in a range, had a particular drug sensitivity, is taking a particular drug, taking a particular drug dosage, meets one or more prerequisites of another structured collection procedure, has completed one or more of another structured collection procedure, does not have one or more particular pre-conditions, e.g., pregnant, not fasting, or contraindications, e.g., feeling ill, feverish, vomiting, etc., and combinations thereof. Entry criterion 226 can also initiate the schedule of events 222 by an initiation event such as a time of day, a time of week, meal, taking a meal with a time offset, exercise, and exercise with a time offset, use of a therapeutic drug, use of a therapeutic drug with time offset, physiological circumstances, biomarker range, and biomarker within a predetermined range calculated as an offset from a prior biomarker value. Example of a physiological circumstance can be that entry criterion will be met to start a structured collection procedure when a pre-determined number of a physiological event, e.g., hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, a certain temperature at a certain of day, and the like, occur within a pre-defined amount of time, e.g., hours, day, weeks, etc. Accordingly, the entry criterion can be used to support the use of need to met prerequisites, indications for usage, and/or contraindications for usage. For example, an entry criterion 226 could define a prerequisite condition which in order for the structure collection procedure 70 to run an Insulin Sensitivity optimization, the processor 102 must verify first that a structured collection procedure for a Basal titration is completed and/or has a desired result and/or as well as another structured collection procedure for an insulin to carbohydrate ratio is completed and/or has a desired result. In another example, an entry criterion 226 could be defined with needing to meet certain indications for usage in which certain structured collection procedures could provide segregated uses for diabetics who are Type 1 vs. Type 2 as well as types of structure collection procedures which can be used to titrate for specific drugs. In another example, the entry criterion 226 could be defined with needing to meet certain contraindications for usage, in which for example, certain structured collection procedures 70 will not run if the patient 12 is pregnant, sick, etc.

Examples of the one or more exit criterions 228 can be based on the processor 102 determining that a particular value is reached, that a mean average of the primary samples values are in a range, that a particular event(s) and/or condition(s) have or have not occurred, and combinations thereof. Other conditions when the procedure may stop can include adverse events such as a hypoglycemic event, the patient is sick, the patient undergoes a therapy change, etc. Additional detail may also by provided by the processor 102 on the display 108 to the patient 12 based on what the specific exit criterion has been met. For example, in one example, if the patient 12 measures a glucose value indicating hypoglycemia, upon exiting the procedure, the processor 102 run automatically another alternative procedure which instructs the patient 12 to ingest carbohydrates and measure his blood glucose value every half an hour until the blood glucose exceeds 120 mg/dL. For this alternative procedure, the patient 12 can also be requested by the processor 102 to document his meals, activity, stress, and other relevant details to ensure that the conditions that led to hypoglycemia are recorded. The patient 12 may also be instructed by the processor 102 to contact the clinician 14 in this and other such special cases as deemed fit. Exit criteria can also include, for example, criterion for ending such as exiting after a successful completion, or exiting after an indeterminate completion, such as expiration of a predetermined timeout (logistical end), e.g., no result after n days, where n=1 to 365 days, or by termination e.g., exit with unsuccessful termination due to a fail-safe. It is to be appreciated that the structured collection procedure 70 can also be defined to end automatically not only based on meeting the exit criterion 228, but also when the patient 12 fails to perform a request to an acceptable level of compliance and/or when a patient physiological state has changed such that the patient is should not carry out the schedule of events 222, thereby failing adherence criteria 224, wherein the adherence event 242 is to end the structured collection procedure.

In step 214, guidance 230 for the user during collection can be determined as well as any options 232 for customizing the collection. For example, for guidance 230, the clinician 14 can use a default list of messages, or tailor messages to guide the patient 12 during execution of the collection procedure 70. As an example, one message could be provided on a successful data acquisition (i.e., meets the adherence criteria 224) would read, “Thank you. Your next scheduled measurement is at 1230 pm.” Alarms, such as provided by indicator 148, can also be associated with the collection procedure 70 that remind the patient 12 to take a measurement and can include a snooze functionality should the patient 12 need additional time to conduct the measurement. The snooze functionality as well as other device features are discussed further in later sections.

The result of steps 208-214 is the structured collection procedure 70 being created in step 216 which associates together the use case parameter 220, the scheduled of events 222, the adherence criterion(s) 224, the entry criterion(s) 226, the exit criterion(s) 228, guidance 230, and the options 232. In one embodiment, at the time of generating a collection procedure 70 the clinician 14 also generates printed material that explains to the patient the following aspects (at a minimum): the purpose of the collection procedure 70 and expected ideal outcome, i.e., setting a goal for the collection procedure 70; the collection procedure 70 design and the number of measurements needed; the entry criteria 226 that the patient 12 must satisfy before initiating the collection procedure 70 and before taking each reading; and the exit criteria 228 under which the patient 12 should cease to continue the collection procedure 70. Such printed material as well as the guidance 230 that can be provided during the execution of the collection procedure 70 ensures that the patient is fully aware of why the data collection procedure is being carried out.

Examples, of the structured collection procedure 70 may be, for example, a structured collection procedure for determining an insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, for determining bolus timing in respect to meal start, and for determining an exercise equivalent to ingested carbohydrates. In step 218, the structured collection procedure 70 is then made available for implementation and use in the system 41, such as in any of the above discussed manners mentioned with regards to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. A structured collection procedure 70 accordingly may be provided via the above process, such as by either the medical community or healthcare companies 64, to help the clinician 14 address and/or investigate a defined medical use case or problem.

FIG. 5B shows the interactions of the parameters 222, 224, 226, and 228 of the structured collection procedure 70 for obtaining contextualized biomarker data from a diabetic patient to address a medical use case upon which the structured collection procedure is based. As mentioned above, the use case parameter 220 may be provided to identify the medical use case or question to which the parameters 222, 224, 226, and 228 address. For example, the processor 76 of the clinician computer 25, the processor 102 of the collection device 24, and/or the server 52 may read the medical use case parameters 220 from a plurality of structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d (FIG. 2), such as provided on these devices and/or within the system 41, and provide a list of the available structured collection procedures, such as on the display 82 of the clinician computer 25 or the display 108 of the collection device 24. Additionally, the clinician computer 25, the patient computer 18, and/or the server 52 can use the medical use case parameter 220 for locating/sorting/filtering such structured collection procedures according to a medical use case(s).

As mentioned above, the entry criterion(s) 226 establishes the requirements for initiating the structured collection procedure 70 to obtain patient data which includes biomarker data, particularly, collected in a predefined context. In one embodiment, the processor 102 of the collection device 24 can use the entry criterion(s) 226 to determine when an associated structured collection procedure 70 is appropriate for the patient's physiological context and to ensure that all of the necessary inputs to the associated structured collection procedure have been established. Therefore, it is to be appreciated that the start date and/time of a structured collection procedure may dynamically change automatically by the processor 102 of the collection device 24 if the predefined condition(s) of the entry criterion(s) 226 is not satisfied. Accordingly, until the entry criterion 226 is satisfied, the start date and/time of the associated structured collection procedure 70 can be at some unknown time in the future.

For example, in one embodiment, a structured collection procedure 70 can be chosen automatically by the processor 102 from a plurality of structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, such as provided in memory 110 of the collection device 24, memory of the computer 18, 25 and/or from server 52, based on satisfying the condition(s) of a defined entry criterion 226 for an associated structured collection procedure. For example, in one embodiment, a first structured collection procedure, such as procedure 70 d, is useful for showing trends in blood glucose levels (“bG Level Trending”). Therefore, an entry criterion 226 for the first structured collection procedure 70 d may be for the patient to have a bG level mean which has elevated over a defined period (e.g., a past number of days, weeks, and months from the current date) above a certain pre-defined rate. For a second structured collection procedure, such as procedure 70 a, its entry criteria 226 may require a particular number of bG measurement for a pre-breakfast measurement over a defined period (e.g., a past number of days, weeks, months, from the current date) being below a pre-defined bG value. In such an example, the processor 102 upon start up in one embodiment when commanded, such as via input received via the user interface, in another embodiment, or at a scheduled time as programmed by the software 34 in another embodiment, can run through the various entry criteria 226 provided by the various structured collection procedures 70 a and 70 d that are, for example, provided in memory 110 of the collection device 24 and determine whether the stated condition(s) for the entry criteria 226 of a particular procedure 70 is satisfied. In this example, the processor 102 determines that the historical data from past measurements in memory 110 indicate that the patient's bG level mean has been elevating, and that the entry criterion 226 for the first collection procedure 70 d has been met, but not the entry criteria for the second collection procedure 70 a. In this example, the processor 102 then automatically selects and starts the first structured collection procedure 70 d based on the above-mentioned analysis.

It is also to be appreciated that the use of the entry criterion 226 can help to reduce the misallocation of medical expenses by assuring that the indications of use for the structured collection procedure 70 have been met before starting the schedule of collection events 222. The entry criterion 226 as well can help assure that any requests to perform multiple structured collection procedures do not overlap if incompatible, are not unnecessary repeats of each other, or provide a significant burden on the patient. In this manner, many of the noted problems in which a patient may avoid any further attempts to diagnose their chronic disease or to optimize therapy can be both addressed and avoided automatically by the processor 102 of the collection device 24 via use of the entry criterion 226.

As shown by FIG. 5B, the entry criteria 226 can include context specific entry criterion 234, procedure specific entry criterion 236, and combination thereof. Examples of context specific entry criterion 234 can include one or more variables to identify meals, low blood glucose events, insulin type and dosage, stress, and the like. In another example, the context specific entry criterion 234 can be defined such as in the form of a specific question(s), to which the processor 102 requires a specific answer to be received from patient via input from the user interface 146. For example, the processor 102 in executing the entry criterion 226 may display on the display 108 the question of whether the patient is willing and able to perform the structured collection procedure 70 over the required period. If the patient responses affirmatively via the user interface 146, then the entry criterion 226 has been satisfied and the processor 102 continues automatically with performing the collection events 237 according to the their associated timing as defined in the structured collection procedure 70. If the patient responses in the negative to the displayed question, then the processor 102 will not continue with the structured collection procedure 70, and may for example, re-schedule the asking of such a question to a future time, such as if designated by an options parameter.

Examples of procedure specific entry criterion 236 can include one or more variables to identify disease state, disease status, selected therapy, parameter prerequisites, insulin to carbohydrate ratio prior to testing insulin sensitivity, incompatible collection procedures, and the like. The procedure specific entry criterion 236 can be defined such that the processor 102 will continue automatically with the structured collection procedure 70 with one of three initiators—the patient 12, the clinician 14, or data, e.g., if the condition(s) of the entry criterion 226 is satisfied. For example, the procedure specific entry criterion 236 can be satisfy if the clinician 14 has prescribed the structured collection procedure 70, such as via an authorized user entering via the user interface 146 a valid password to unlock the particular structured collection procedure for use, in one embodiment. In another embodiment, the clinician 14 can send the password or an authorization code from clinician computer 25 and/or server 52 to the collection device 24 which prescribes (authorizes) the collection procedure 70 for use by the patient 12 on the collection device 24. It is to be appreciated that one or more structured collection procedure 70 can be provided in memory 110 of the collection device 24 which cannot be used by the patient 12, and which can be also hidden from being viewed on the display 108, such as in a selection list, by the patient until authorized by the clinician 14.

The procedure specific entry criterion 236 can be satisfy by a user for example, by the user selecting a particular structured collection procedure 70 from a listing of structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d provided on the display 108. An example of a data initiated procedure for criterion 236 would be that a biomarker measurement(s) provided to the processor 102 indicates a certain condition which must have occurred or be present in order for the entry criteria 226 for the particular structured collection procedure to be satisfied. Such a condition, for example, can be the occurrence of a single event, such as a severe hypoglycemic event, or a series of events, such as hypoglycemic events within a given, a predetermined time frame, such as in 24 hours from a start time, in one week from a start time, etc, a calendar date-time, and the like.

Accordingly, the entry criteria 226 can be a single criterion or multiple criteria that establish context and/or condition of the patient's physiology that are relevant to the medical use case being addressed by the structured collection procedure 70. In another embodiment, the entry criteria 226 can be assessed after patient data has been collected, such as, on historical patient data.

The schedule of events 222 specifies one or more events 237 which each comprises at least one or more variables defining a performance time 238, the guidance 230 to perform the event, requests 240 for patient actions, which may include a request for information from the patient and/or a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data from the patient, and combinations thereof. For performance time 238, the schedule of events 222 can specify timing of each event 237, such as for a biomarker sampling at a particular time on three consecutive work days, or one sample at time of wake-up, one sample thirty minutes later, and another sample one hour later.

The guidance 230 for each event 237 and for any criteria 224, 226, 228 may include, for example, providing electronic reminders (acoustic, visual) to start, end and/or wake up at a particular time, to perform a bG collection at a particular time, to ingest a particular meal or food(s) at a particular time, to perform a certain exercise(s) at a particular time, take medication at a particular time, and the like. Guidance 230 may also include information, questions and requests to record particular information about physiology, health, sense of well-being, etc., at a particular time, suggestion to improve compliancy with the collection procedure, encouragement, and positive/negative feedback.

It is to be appreciated that the events 237 define all the steps that are necessary to be preformed in advance of as well as after a biomarker sampling according to a request 240, such that a reproducible set of circumstances, i.e., context before and/or after the sampling, is created in the biomarker data for the biomarker sampling. Examples of such biomarker data, in the context of diabetes, include fasting blood glucose values, pre-prandial glucose values, postprandial glucose values, and the like. Examples of a set of circumstances can include data associated with the biomarker value which identifies collected information in the patient data about meals, exercises, therapeutic administration, sleep, hydration, and the likes.

Each of the events 237 in the schedule of events 222 can be time-based, event-based, or both. An event 237 can also be a start of a meal, a wake-up time, start of exercise, a therapeutic administration time, a relative offset used with a prior glucose value, or a time indicating movement above or below a predetermined biomarker value threshold. The events 237 can also include any required patient actions necessary to be performed in advance of and during biomarker sampling such that reproducible circumstances are created at the time of biomarker sampling. This can includes one or more of meals, exercise, therapeutic administration, sleep, hydration, and the like. Additionally, the events 237 in the schedule of events 222 can be adjusted (number, types, timing, etc.), to accommodate work schedule, stressors, and the like of the patient 12.

As mentioned above previously, the adherence criteria 224 is used to assess qualitatively whether an event 237 performed according to the schedule of events 222 provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case upon which the structured collection procedure 70 is based. In particularly, the adherence criteria 224 can provide variables and/or values used to validate data from a performed event 237. For example, an adherence criterion 224 can be a check performed by the processor 102 of the collection device 24 that a value collected in response to an event 237 is within a desired range, or is above, below, or at a desired value, wherein the value may be a time, a quantity, a type, and the like. The same or different adherence criteria 224 may be associated with each of the events 237 within the schedule of events 222 as well with the entry criterion(s) 226 in one embodiment, and as being the exit criterion 228 in another embodiment, such as illustrated by FIG. 6D (i.e., “stop exercising when bG back in target range” which defines both the adherence and exit criteria). In one embodiment, one or more events 237 in the schedule of events 222 may be modified (e.g., added, deleted, delayed, etc.) if a particular event or events fail to met the adherence criterion 224 for the particular event or events. In one embodiment, the failure of the adherence criterion(s) 224 can trigger an adherence event 242. In one embodiment, upon occurrence of an adherence event 242 due to the associated adherence criterion 224 for an event 237 not being met or satisfied, the processor 102 may be required one or more additional actions as a consequence. For example, the processor 102 may prompt on the display 108 additional information to the patient, and/or prompt a question to determine whether the patient 12 is sick, stressed, or unable to perform the request e.g., eat the meal, or exercise. If the patient answers “Yes”, e.g., via the user interface 146, then as part of the adherence event 242 the processor 102 can provide a delay to the schedule of event (i.e. suspend). In one embodiment, the delay can continue until the patient indicated that he or she is better in response to another question prompter by the processor 102, such as the next day or after a predefined amount of time as also part of the adherence event. For example, the patient 12 is prompted by the processor 102 to administer a drug, but the patient is not at home, such as for example, where his/her insulin is located. The patient 12 can select the delay via the user interface 146, wherein the processor 102 re-prompts the patient after a predetermined amount of time. This delay may also have an upper limit in which if the schedule of events is not re-started within a certain amount of the time, the structure collection procedure 70 in such a circumstance may just end. In another embodiment, another form of an adherence event is a violation event, which results when the person executing a structure collection procedure 70 fails to make a recommended change in response to a request. For example, the request may be for the patient to adjust a drug dosage from 10 U to 12 U, wherein the patient answers in the negative to a question on the displayed on the display 108 asking if the patient will or has complied with such a change. In response to such a violation event, the processor 102 may also send a message and/or provide a delay as previously discussed above concerning the adherence event.

In another example and in one embodiment, a bG measurement must be collected before each meal in order for a structured collection procedure 70 to provide data that is useful in addressing the medical use case or question for which it was designed, such as identified by the use case parameter 220. If, in this example, the patient fails to take a bG measurement for the lunch meal in response to a request 240 for such a collection according to the schedule of the event 222, and hence the adherence criteria 224 for that event 237 fails to be satisfied, the processor 102 in response to the associated adherence event 242 can be programmed according to instructions in the collection procedure 70 to cancel all remaining events 237 in the schedule of events 222 for that day, mark the morning bG measurement stored in the data file (such as data file 145 (FIG. 4) as invalid, and reschedule for the schedule of event 222 for the next day. Other examples of further actions in which the processor 102 may take in response to an adherence event 242 may be to dynamically change the structure testing procedure by switch to a secondary schedule of event, which may be easier for the patient to perform, provide additional events for measurements to make up the missing data, change the exit criteria from a primary to a secondary exit criterion providing modified criterion(s), change the adherence criteria from a primary to a secondary adherence criterion, fill in the missing data for the failing event with (an estimate from) historical data, perform a particular calculation to see if the structured collection procedure 70 can still be successfully performed, send a message to a particular person, such as a clinician, of the failing event, provide a certain indication in the associated data record 152 to either ignore or estimate the missing data point, and the likes. In still another embodiments, the adherence criteria 224 can be dynamically assessed, such as for example, based on one or more biomarker values and/or input received from the user interface in response to one or more questions, via an algorithm which determines whether the collected data provides a value which is useful in addressing the medical use case or case. In this example, if the calculated adherence value is not useful, for example, does not fall into a desired range or meet a certain pre-define value, then further processing as defined by the resulting adherence event would then take place, such as any one or more of the processes discussed above.

The exit criteria 228 as mentioned previously above establishes the requirements for exiting or completing the structured collection procedure 70, so that the structured collection procedure 70 has adequate contextual data to answer the medical question addressed by the structured collection procedure 70. The exit criterion 228 can help increase the efficiency of the structured collection procedure 70 by minimizing the number of required samples needed to address the medical use case. By “addressing”, it is meant that sufficient patient data has been collected in which the clinician 14 may render an assessment to the medical use case. In other embodiments, the assessment may be indicated by a given confidence interval. A confidence interval is a group of discrete or continuous values that is statistically assigned to the parameter. The confidence interval typically includes the true value of the parameter at a predetermined portion of the time.

As with the entry criteria 226, the exit criteria 228 can comprise one or more of context specific exit criterion 244, procedure specific entry criterion 246, and combinations thereof. Examples of context specific exit criterion 244 can include one or more variables to identify mood, desired blood glucose events (i.e., blood glucose level), to indicate stress, illness, contraindications, such as for example, hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, vomiting, a fever, and the likes. Examples of procedure specific entry criterion 246 can include one or more variables to identify a number of events meeting the adherence criteria, biomarker values being in a desired pre-determined range and/or at a desired pre-determined value, a desired disease state, desired disease status, no change in the biomarker after a pre-determined period, or no significant progress over a pre-determined period to a desired biomarker value, and the like. It is to be appreciated that in one embodiment the exit criterion 228 can establish the condition(s) needed to be met for entry criterion 226 of a second structured collection procedure 70. For example, upon having a suitable Insulin-to-Carbohydrate (I:C) determined with a first collection procedure, such as for example, structure collection procedure 70 b (FIG. 6B), running a structured test for determining the best time for administering a bolus in regards to a start of a meal, such as for example, structured collection procedure 70 c (FIG. 6C), which needs a current I:C ratio, can be conditioned such that the processor 102 can implement automatically a schedule of events of the second structured collection procedure 70 c upon meeting the exit criterion of the first structured collection procedure 70 b at some unknown time. In other embodiment, for example, the exit criterion 228 of a first structured collection procedure 70 that is being run by the processor 102 according to the schedule of events 222 and the entry criterion 226 of the second structured collection procedure 70 both can be based on the same one or more contraindications, such as mentioned above. In such an embodiment, upon occurrence of a contraindication being provided to and/or detected by the processor 102, such as via the user interface 146 and/or the biosensor 140, respectively, which in this example meets the exit criterion 228 of the first structured collection procedure 70, the processor 102 would automatically start the schedule of events of the second structured collection procedure 70 as the entry criterion 226 of the second structured collection procedure 70 has also been met. An example of such a second structured collection procedure 70 which can be started via exiting a first structured collection procedure can be one which has a schedule of events 222 which requests a biomarker samplings at a routine interval, e.g., every 30 minutes, every hour, every day at a particular time, etc., until the contraindication(s) clears (e.g., biomarker value(s) reaches a desire range or value, patient 12 indicates to processor 102 via user interface 146 no longer having a contraindication(s), expiration of a predefined period, etc.). Such an embodiment is useful if recording the context and values of the events after the occurrence of the contraindication(s) is a desire and in which the first collection procedure should be exited when a contraindication(s) occurs.

The exit criteria 228 can be a single criterion or multiple criteria that establish the conditions to exit the structured collection procedure 70. The conditions are provided in a preferred embodiment such to ensure that adequate contextualized biomarker data has been obtained to answer the medical question being addressed by the collection method. For example, such that a predetermined number of valid samples have been acquired, or that the variability in the samples is below a predetermined threshold. Therefore, it is to be appreciated that the end date and/time of the collection procedure 70 may be dynamic and be changed automatically by the processor 102 if the predefined condition(s) of the exit criterion(s) 228 is not satisfied. Likewise, the conditions of the exit criterion 228 may be dynamic and be changed automatically be the processor 102 such for example if a particular adherence criterion 224 is satisfied or not satisfied. For example, in one embodiment if adherence criterion 224 for a particular collection event 237 is met, then the processor 102 is instructed to use a first exit criterion and if not met, then the processor 102 is instructed to use a second exit criterion that is different from the first exit criterion. Accordingly, until the exit criterion 228 is satisfied, the end date and/time of the structured collection procedure 70 can be at some unknown time in the future. In another embodiment, the exit criteria 228 can be assessed after patient data has been collected, such as, on historical patient data.

It is to be appreciated that the entry and exit criteria 226, 228 together with the adherence criteria 224 can help to reduce both the time to perform the structured collection procedure 70 and the expense associated with the collection by defining one or more of the acceptable conditions, values, structure and context needed to perform the schedule of events 222 in an effort to make every collection event 237 count and/or reduce consumption of test strips 30 with unneeded collections that do not help address the medical use case or question. Hereafter reference is made to FIGS. 6A-6E.

Structured Collection Procedure Examples

FIGS. 6A-E illustrate examples of some structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d depicting their functions which can easily be translated by one of ordinary skill in the related art into instruction code which may be implemented on any one of the devices the above described devices 18, 24, 25, 26, 28, 36, 52. Therefore, for brevity, no discussion is provided in regard to pseudo-code or actual code relating to these illustrated functions.

FIG. 6A diagrammatically illustrates an embodiment of a structured collection procedure 70 a used to obtain contextualized biomarker data from a diabetic patient. The horizontal axis shows the performance times 238 of the various events 237, and the vertical axis shows adherence criterion 224 without values. In the illustrated embodiment, the events 237 can include recording information regarding a meal 248 and sleep 250 in which to provide context 252 for the five-biomarker samplings 254 also events 237 that are part of the schedule of events 222. In this example, the adherence criterion 224 for the meal 248 can be a value which must be greater than a minimum value, e.g., for a carbohydrate amount. The entry criterion 226, for example, can comprise a biomarker value being above a particular value such as required to meet contextualization requirements to begin the structured collection procedure 70 a. The exit criterion 228 as well can comprise a biomarker values being below a particular value such as also required to meet contextualization requirements to end the structured collection procedure 70 a. Such a structured collection procedure 70 is useful for helping to address a number of medical use cases.

GLP1 Structured Testing Procedure

For example, several epidemiological studies have confirmed that elevated postprandial glucose (PPG) levels are a significant predictor of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in type 2 diabetes (T2D). For this reason, there is a family of human once-weekly long acting glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP 1) drugs which can be prescribed to T2Ds who show high post prandial bG values. These GLP 1 drugs are similar to the natural hormone GLP-1 which has a key role in blood sugar regulation by stimulating insulin secretion and suppressing glucagon secretion. Therefore, a structured collection procedure 70 can be provided in one embodiment which proposes an intensive measurement of bG values during the time after one or more meals over time allows therapy efficacy to be shown by means of observed reduced postprandial bG values. Based on such observed values, doses recommendation for a GLP 1 drug and/or whether a particular GLP 1 drug is the right drug at all for the patient can be determined.

For example, the structured collection procedure 70 could be provided on a collection device 24 for when a patient has been prescribed to administer a particular drug, e.g., a GLP 1 drug. In the case of a GLP 1 drug, in which determination of drug efficacy is desired, the entry criterion 226 for such a structured collection procedure could then be that the patient must affirm to the processor 102 in response to a question displayed on the display 108 to perform the structured collection procedure 70 over a period of time (e.g., over the next 4 to 24 weeks) and/or the processor 102 has determined that the mean PPG level of the patient from prior post prandial bG values over a period (e.g., week, month, etc.) are high (e.g., greater than 141 mg/dl). Still other factors could be used as the entry criterion(s) 226, such as fasting blood glucose being more than a certain value, e.g., 126 mg/dl or less than a certain value, e.g., 240 mg/dl.

After the conditions of the entry criterion(s) 226 have been satisfied and confirmed by the processor 102, the schedule of events 222 is then automatically run by the processor 102. The schedule of events 222 would specify desired collection events 237 in which the processor 102 would automatically prompt the patient for entering post prandial bG values after breakfast, lunch, and dinner (i.e., performing a bG measurement on a sample provided to a test strip that is read by the measurement engine and provided to the processor for storing in a data record and display). As customized by the prescribing physician, the schedule of events 222 could also define a collection event 237 with a performance time 238 in which the patient must administer the drug as well as to provide a reminder of the dosage and a request 240 for confirmation from the patient when the drug has been administered. For example, the processor 102 in executing the schedule of events 222 would automatically prompt the patient to administer dosages at the times specified by the collection events 237 in the schedule of events 222, e.g., 10 mg of Taspoglutide on a certain day of the week, and then after a period, a second dosage according to a second interval, e.g., after 4 weeks, then 20 mg also on a certain day of the week. A collection event 237 could also be defined in the schedule of events 222 in which the processor 102 makes a request on the display 108 for information, such as whether the patient is feeling well, to provide an indication of energy level, to provide an indication of size of meals consumed, and the like.

A condition(s) for the adherence of each entered post prandial bG value could be provided via the use of adherence criteria 224 in which any post prandial bG value entered (i.e., measured) an amount of time before or after the prompting, e.g., a testing window of ±30 minutes, such a measured value would not be accepted as a valid measurement for the schedule of events 222 by the processor 102. In one embodiment, the processor 102 can take further action automatically based on the adherence criteria 224 assessment preformed automatically by the processor 102. For example, if a bG measurement was taken before a measurement prescribed by a collection event in the schedule of events 222 and outside the defined testing window, e.g., −30 minutes before the collection event time, the processor 102 in such a case will automatically notify the patient that a measurement is still needed at the prescribed time as the previous measurement was not accepted since outside the testing window. Likewise, if after the testing window, e.g., the collection event time +30 minute, the processor 102 can automatically notify the patient that the previous measurement was not accepted since outside the testing window and provide encouragement on the display 108 to the patient to make an effort take a measurement within the testing window.

The exit criterion 228 for such a GLP 1 structured collection procedure 70 could be an indication that the mean bG value, in using a minimum amount of time (e.g., days, weeks, months, etc.), a minimum number of accepted measurements, or both, has reached a desire value. Likewise, the exit criterion 228 could be an indication that the mean bG value, after a maximum amount of time (e.g., days, weeks, months, etc.), a maximum number of accepted measurements, or both, has not reached a desire value. Still further, the exit criterion 228 can be other factors which indicate that the drug or dosage is not at all right for the patient, such as the patient responding as having nausea and/or vomiting each day for a minimum number of days in response to a collection event for such information prompted by the processor 102 on the display 108. Still other factors could be used as the exit criteria 228, such as fasting blood glucose being less than a certain value, e.g., 126 mg/dl or greater than a certain value, e.g., 240 mg/dl. The data collected from such a drug base structured collection procedure 70 can then be used by a physician to make a dosage recommendation for the GLP 1 drug and/or determine whether the particular GLP 1 drug is the right drug or not for the patient.

Another example is diagrammatically depicted by FIG. 6B which shows a structured collection procedure 70 b which has a defined medical use case parameter 220 indicating that the procedure can be helpful for determining suitability of an insulin to carbohydrate (I:C) ratio. As illustrated, the entry criterion 226 is defined as having the patient simply acknowledge guidance 230 of selecting a fast-acting meal, to note that the insulin dose is calculated with the current I:C ratio as well as agreeing not to exercise, take additional food or insulin during the testing period. For example, the processor 102 can present on the display 108 such guidance 230, which the user can then acknowledge after reading with either a “Yes” or a “No” entered via using the user interface 146 for the desired entry choice. If the user enters “Yes”, then the entry criterion 226 is satisfied, and the processor 102 automatically starts the schedule of events 222 defined in the structured collection procedure 70 b. In another embodiment, the entry criterion 226 may be or include satisfying a request 237 for selecting a fast-acting meal. For example, the request 237 for selection can be the processor 102 displaying on the display 108 a selection menu providing a listing of fast-acting meals to which input of such a selection via the user interface 146 is needed. For example, selection of a fast-acting meal may be made via a press of one of the buttons 147, 149 or via the touch screen interface if provided by display 108. Such a selection can then be stored in memory 110 of the collection device 24 such as setup data 163 (FIG. 4) which may be part of the data file 145 (FIG. 4) for the structured collection procedure 70 b. In an alternative embodiment, a particular fast-acting meal may be recommended by the structured collection procedure 70 b.

As shown, the schedule of events 222 can comprise one or more events, such as the plurality of events 237 a-k illustrated and with each having associated performance times 238 a-k and requests for action 240 a-k. As shown, the requests for action 240 a-c, and 240 f-k are requests for the user to take a bG level measurement, request 240 d is to take an insulin dose, and request 240 e is to eat the fast acting meal. Also shown is that events 238 f-k each have an adherence criterion 224, which must be met if the data for events 238 f-k are to be recorded in the data file 145. In this example, the adherence criteria 224 requires that the actions 240 f-k be completed within ∀20 minutes of their corresponding performance times 238 f-k in order for a data record 152 recording the received value(s) for the corresponding event 237 f-k to count towards completing the collection procedure 70 b. In one embodiment, the processor 102 will make each of the requests 240 a-k at their associated performance times 238 a-k in order to obtain resulting data values e.g., data values 256 a-k (FIG. 4) at the time the requests are performed.

For example, the processor 102 can prompt the patient 12 with a request 240 a to take a bG level (biomarker) measurement at performance time 238 a. The resulting measurement when received by the processor 102, such as automatically from the measurement engine 138 after reading the test strip (biosensor) 140 for the desired biomarker, is then recorded automatically by the processor 102 in the date file 145 as a corresponding data value 256 a for the associated event 237 a. For actions 240 d and 240 e, at a required time, the processor 102 can automatically prompt the patient 12 to take the prescribed action at the required time, and again automatically prompt the patient thereafter to confirm that the required action has been taken, or that a predefine status has been achieved. A date-time stamp 169 can also be provided in the date record 152 automatically by the processor 102 upon triggering of the requests 240 a-k, acknowledgement of the requests 240 a-k, upon completion of the event 237 a-k, upon receiving a data value 256 a-k for the event 237 a-k, and combinations thereof. Additionally, in another embodiment, the patient 12 can record data values 256 a-k for one or more events 237 a-k by entering the data directly into the device 24 via the user interface 146, wherein the processor 102 stored the entered data values/information in the associated data record 152 for the event 237 a-k, or in other embodiments can record a voice message with the information for later transcription into digital data. In still other embodiments, the patient 12 can be guided by the collection device 24 to record data for an event 237 a-k using a paper tool 38.

As mentioned previously above, each event 237 can be a recording of a biomarker value, or a request for a required patient action that is necessary in order to create a context for the biomarker value, such as for example, meals, exercise, therapeutic administration, and the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the context 252 for completing events 237 a-c is to establish a pre-prandial baseline and a no-trend condition, and for events 237 f-k to establish a post-prandial excursion and tail. Such context 252 for these events may also be associated with the corresponding data records 152 for each event as contextual information 156 (FIG. 4). Such information is useful later when reconstructing the data and/or when there is a desire to know the context for which the data record was created.

It is to be appreciated that any patient action taken outside of the required requests for patient actions 240 a-k can also be recorded by the processor 102 but will not be considered by the processor 102 as part of the collection procedure 70 b. Data 256 a-k for events 237 a-k that are prospective can be identified based on a type of event, the time of the event, the trigger of the event, and combination thereof. Each of the performance times 238 a-k can be fixed or variable based on prior data. Some of the event 237 a-k in other embodiments can also be a past, current, or a future event such as for meals, exercise, and the like, or data values such as for hypoglycemic events, hyperglycemic events, or data of a specific value of interest. In some embodiments, the events 237 a-k can be identified via a paper tool 38 that is procedure based.

As also shown, the structured collection procedure 70 b will end if the condition of the exit criterion 228 is satisfied. In this example, the exit criterion 228 is satisfied if at least three of the actions 240 f-k met the adherence criterion 224. For example, the processor 102 may provide a unique identifier (e.g. an incremental count) 167 (FIG. 4) in the data file 145 for each event 237 a-k performed and to which satisfied the adherence criterion 224 if required. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 4, events 237 a-c and 237 e-k each receive a unique identifier but not event 237 d, e.g., <null>, since not satisfying an associated adherence criteria (not shown). In addition, analysis logic 258 and resulting recommendations 260 can also be provided in the structured collection procedure 70 b which the processor 102 may apply automatically to the data collected upon satisfying the exit criterion 228 in one embodiment.

Similar features are also provided in the examples illustrated by FIGS. 6C and 6D, wherein FIG. 6C depicts a structured collection procedure 70 c which has a defined medical use case parameter 220 indicating that the procedure is helpful for determining suitability of a bolus in regards to a meal start. Likewise, FIG. 6D depicts a structured collection procedure 70 d which has a defined medical use case parameter 220 indicating that the procedure is helpful for determining suitability of an exercise equivalent to a carbohydrate intake. In addition to the above examples, other such structured collection procedures may be designed to address other various medical use cases such as, for example, the following: determining the effects of eating a particular food on a biomarker level of a patient; determining the best time to take medication before and/or after a meal; and determining the affect of a particular drug on a biomarker level of a patient. Still other structured collection procedures can be provided which may be useful in addressing questions concerning how best to initialize therapy for a patient, finding a determination of status of a patient disease progression, finding the best ways to optimize a patient therapy, and the like. For example, the clinician 14 can define and/or use a pre-defined structured collection procedure 70 which looks at factors which may have an effect on the therapy of the patient. Such factors can include, for example, stress, menstrual cycle, pre-dawn effect, background insulin, exercise, bolus timing with respect to a meal, basal rate, insulin sensitivity, post-prandial behavior, and the like.

FIG. 6E shows a diagram structured collection procedure 70 comprising one or more multiple sampling groupings 262 each comprising a recurring schedule of events 222 provided between the entry criterion 226 and the exit criterion 228. In this example, the schedule of events 222 comprises one or more events 237 occurring each day at consistent times of day. As the structured collection procedure 70 in the process of obtaining contextualized biomarker data from a diabetic patient 12 can span over multiple days, even week and/or months before the exit criterion 228 is met, one or more checks 264, such as for parameter adjustment, and/or evaluation of whether to re-run the sampling groupings 262, can also be provided between the entry and exit criterions 226, 228 in one embodiment. The duration between such checks 264 can be used for physiological system equilibration, evaluation of treatment efficacy, or convenience. For example, either between each sample grouping 262 or after a predefined number such sampling grouping 262 (as shown), an analysis for the check 264 can be performed by the processor 102 to determine whether an adjustment to any parameter in the collection procedure 70 is needed.

For example, such analysis may be either for a parameter optimization or efficacy assessment. For the parameter optimization, the processor 102 can run calculations on the samples provided within a previous schedule of events 222 or sample grouping 262, using information from prior optimizations, clinician set parameters, and a collection or therapy strategy, recommends a new parameter value. For the efficacy assessment, the processor 102 can evaluate data not utilized by the optimization analysis. Additionally, it is to be appreciated that after a group of samples, i.e., sampling group 262, are taken the processor 102 can also evaluate the data from the sampling group 262, such as if such data is need in order to alter/optimize a person's therapy. Adherence criteria can be applied to the perform this evaluation to the data of the sampling group 262. For example, a first adherence criterion 224 can be used by the processor 102 to assess whether a minimum amount of data is provided by the sampling group 262 and if not, for example, the alteration/optimization of the patient's therapy will not take place. Another adherence criterion 224 could permit the processor 102 assess whether the data is acceptable to permit an adjustment called for by the check 264, such as looking at spread of the data, whether these is too much variability (noise), as well as other data attributes to use the data. In this example, if meeting such adherence criterion, then processor 102 has assessed that there is minimum risk that adjusting a parameter of the procedure could readily result in a severe event, e.g., hyper- or hypoglycemic event. Lastly, an adherence criterion can be used by the processor to assess the exit criteria based on the data of sampling group, for example, the exit criterion is met when the data from the sampling group 262 satisfies the adherence criterion, such as for example, discussed above, for the sampling group.

It is to be appreciated that collection or therapy strategies can be categorized into scale based (sliding or fixed) assessments or formula based assessments. As input to the collection or therapy strategy, the processor 102 in one embodiment can utilize the data collected from a predetermined number of prior sample grouping(s) 262. This data can be either used as individual points (only the formula based collection or therapy strategies), or combined with filtering for use in a scale based assessment. In another embodiment, for example, the result of a check 264 performed by the processor 102 can also result in a status or recommendation being provided by the processor 102 automatically. Such status or recommendation may be e.g., a status of continuing with current parameter values, a recommendation to change particular parameters, a recommendation to change the adherence and/or exit criterion, a status that the processor 102 switched to a secondary adherence and/or exit criterion based on the analysis performed on the data from a prior schedule of events or prior sample grouping, or a recommendation to terminate the collection procedure, and the likes. A discussion of performing a structured testing method using a structured collection procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided hereafter with reference made to FIG. 7A.

Structured Testing Method

FIG. 7A depicts a structured testing method 300 for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease. The method 300 may be implemented as instruction codes of a program running on a computer with a processor and memory, such as preferably clinician computers 25 (FIG. 2) as stand-alone software, as part of software 34, or as software provided as a service by server 52 via a secure web implementation over public network 50. Upon a processor 76 executing the program from memory 78 of the clinician computer 25, as one function among others, the processor 76 after receiving a query for a medical use case and/or question, searches memory 78, computer readable medium 40, and/or server 52 for all structured collection procedures 70 a-d, which matches the submitted query in step 302. For example, the processor 76 may read the medical use case parameter 220 of each available structured collection procedures 70 a-d and using a conventional search algorithm (e.g., list, tree, heuristics, etc.), provide on a display 82 a selection choice for those structured collection procedure matching the query in step 304 in one embodiment.

In one embodiment, the list displayed can reflect, for example, the structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d available for use from the server 52. In still another embodiment, the list of selection choices displayed can be dynamically created based on a type of medical use case the clinician 14 wishes to investigate. For example, prior to step 302, a list of selectable medical use cases can be displayed on the display 82 by the processor 76. In such an embodiment, the clinician 14, using the user interface device(s) 86 may selected from among the displayed medical use cases, for example, the medical use case “Determining meal effect on patient's therapy.” After the clinician makes such a selection, which the processor 76 receives as input from the user interface device(s) 86, the processor 76 after using decision logic (e.g., if . . . then) provided by the software 34 would then display in step 304, for example, structured collection procedure 70 b (e.g., a structured collection procedure to determine a more accurate insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio) and 70 c (e.g., a structured collection procedure to determine bolus timing in regards to meal start), and not structured collection procedures 70 a and 70 d, which are structured collection procedures unrelated to the medical use case. Likewise, a “show all structured collection procedures” could also be a choice among the displayed medical use cases, in which the complete list of available structured collection procedures would then be displayed in step 304. In another embodiment, step 302 may be skipped and the processor 76 in step 304 can just provide a display of the structured collection procedures 70 a-d available in memory 78 of the clinician computer 25.

In step 306, a clinician using the user interface devices 86 can select a structured collection procedure 70 on the computer 25 for diagnostic or therapy support. For example, the selecting process can include choosing from the list displayed in step 304, which provided one or more structured collection procedures. After the clinician makes such a selection in step 306, which the processor 76 receives as input from the user interface device(s) 62, the processor 76 of the computer 25 retrieves automatically from an electronic component, e.g., computer memory 78, server 52, or computer readable medium 40, and displays the selected structured collection procedure 70 on display 82 for viewing.

It is to be appreciated that each structured collection procedures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d is based on a medical use case and has parameters defining entry criteria 226, a schedule of events 222, adherence criteria 224, and exit criteria 228. As mentioned above, the entry criteria 226 establish the conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data from the patient. Each event 237 of the schedule of events 222 comprises a performance time, patient guidance to perform the event, patient actions, a request for information from the patient, a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data from the patient, and combinations thereof. The adherence criteria 224 is used to qualitatively assess whether an event 237 performed according to the schedule of events 222 provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case upon which the structured collection procedure 70 is based. Additionally, as mentioned above, the exit criteria 228 establish the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure 70.

In step 310, after the processor 76 displays the selected structured collection procedure 70, the clinician 14, to meet the needs of the patient 12 and/or interests of the clinician, may adjust any one of the parameters 222, 224, 226, and 228 which are also displayed on the display 82. Safe guards may be implemented to ensure that only the clinician 14 can modify such parameters and/or run the software 34, such as via password protection. The processor 76 receives any such changes to the parameters 222, 224, 226, and 228 as input via user interface devices 86 and saves the revised structured collection procedure 70 in memory 78. Next, in step 312, the selected structured collection procedure 70 is prescribed on the computer 25 to the patient 12 by the clinician 14, wherein the processor 76 of the computer 25 provides as output the selected structured collection procedure 70 to the patient 12 to perform. For example, in step 314, the prescribed structured collection procedure 70 is implemented electronically on a processor based device, such as collection device 24, or any of the other above described devices 18, 28, and 36 (FIG. 1), as part of the software 34 or in other embodiment, portions thereof as part of paper tool 38.

In one embodiment, the prescribed structured collection procedure 70 may be implemented from the clinician computer 25 (FIG. 2) to the collection device 24 via communication link 72, via the public network 50 through a webpage and/or made available for downloading on server 52. In still other embodiments, the prescribed structured collection procedure 70 can be provided through the computer readable medium 40 and loaded by one of the devices 18, 24, 28, and 36, downloaded from another one of the devices 18, 24, 25, 26, 28, and 36, or downloaded via cell phone or telephone connection from server 52. Notice that a new/updated/prescribed structured collection procedure 70 available for use on the devices 18, 24, 25, 26, 28 and 36 may be provided in any standard fashion, such for via postal letters/cards, email, text messaging, tweets, and the likes.

Customizing a Structured Collection Procedure

FIG. 7B conceptually illustrates one example of a pre-defined structured collection procedure 70, which has a defined medical use case parameter 220 indicating that the procedure is helpful for medical use cases or questions which need to know the trends in blood glucose (bG) levels of a patient and/or the relationships between blood glucose values and time of day, meal size, and energy level. As mentioned above previously, the use case parameter 220 can be used as an identity tag in which the processor 102 may locate the associated structured collection procedure 70 in response to a search query, such as, for entered use case or question. For example, the search query can be entered into the collection device 24 via the user interface 146 and/or received from the clinician computer 25. Such a search query may result from a desire to know which uses case can be addressed by the structured collection procedures 70 currently available on the collection device 24, or to know which structured collection procedure 70 would be useful to address a particular use case or question. Therefore, the use case parameter 220 in one embodiment permits a structured collection procedure 70 to be automatically chosen by the processor 102 from a plurality of structured collection procedures 70 a-d, such as provided in memory 110, memory 78, computer readable medium 40, and/or server 52 based on a selection, such as from a displayed list on the display 108 provided by the processor 102, or from input received by the processor 102 from the user interface of a defined medical question. In other embodiments, the use case parameter 220 may also indicate the structured collection procedure 70 is also useful for showing relationships between bG level values and time of day, meal size, and/or energy level.

In one embodiment, the pre-defined parameters of the structured collection procedure 70 can be displayed for modification/customization by the processor 102 of the collection device 24 on the display 108 and/or by the processor 76 of the clinician computer 25 on the display 82 by an authorized user. Such an authorized user may be identified, for example, on the collection device 24 and/or the clinician computer 25 by a password entered via the user interface 146, 86, respectively. In such an embodiment, the pre-define parameters of structured collection procedure 70 can be displayed on the display 108, 82 in which customizable parameters can provide editable or selectable variables via drop-down boxes with various selection choices, radio buttons, check boxes, formatted fields requesting a specific type of information (mm-dd-yyyy, number, letter, etc.), text boxes to enter messages to be displayed, and the likes. The structured collection procedure 70 can be displayed for editing in tabular format (as illustrated) in one embodiment or in a sequential manner listing one parameter at a time in a scroll-through fashion in another embodiment. In still another embodiment, structured collection procedures can be provided which cannot be modified.

As shown by FIG. 7B, the structured collection procedure 70 may further comprise parameters defining one or more criterions setting the conditions needing to be met by the patient 12 to start of the structured collection procedure, i.e., entry criterion(s) 226, to end the structured collection procedure i.e., exit criterion(s) 228, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the processor 102 of the collection device 24 uses the one or more criterions to automatically start, evaluate, and end the structured collection procedure 70 if the condition(s) defined by the structured collection procedure are met. In still another embodiment, adherence criterion(s) 224, which are the conditions needing to be met in order for the collected datum/data to be accepted, can also be provided in the structured collection procedure 70.

As also shown in FIG. 7B, the structured collection procedure 70 further comprise parameters defining one or more (collection) events 237 which together form the schedule of events 222. Each of the events 237 comprises one or more requests 240, e.g., for a measurement from the measurement engine 138 of a biomarker value for a sample provided to the biosensor 140, and/or for information to be entered by the patient via the user interface 146 such as in response to a question presented by the processor 102 on the display 108. In the illustrated embodiment, the requests 240 are for a bG measurement, a meal size indication (S, M, or L), and an energy level indication (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), in which 1 is lowest and 5 is highest. Other such requests 240 can include indicating whether the patient exercised, indicating a particular food that was consumed, indicating which medicine was administered, indicating dosage of the medicine administered, and the like may also be provided in other structured collection procedures 70. In the illustrated embodiment, the collection events can be customized by selecting which request 240 the processor 102 should perform via a yes/no selection box.

The structured collection procedure 70 may also include guidance 230 and timing or performance time 238 associated with each of the collection events 237 as well as with each of the entry, exit, and adherence criterion/criteria 226, 228, and 224. Such guidance 230 is provided by the processor 102 to the display 108 upon the occurrence of the associated collection event 237 or other parameters. For example, a collection event 237 for a bG measurement before breakfast may also have a request 240 for an indication of the energy level of the patient. Therefore, in this example, the associated guidance 230 which states, “Please indicate energy level” is provided on the display 108 by the processor 102. It is to be appreciated that the guidance 230 is a text box, field, area, which enables for information to be provided to the patient to help the patient in performance of the structured collection procedure 70. In this example, selection of a number from 1 to 5 may be made via press of one of the buttons 147, 149 or via the touch screen interface if provided by display 108 as a data entry for such a request 237, which is then stored by the processor 102 in memory 110 of the collection device 24 as part of a data file 145 (FIG. 4) for the structured collection procedure 70.

The timing parameter 238 of the structured collection procedure 70 is used to specify for any one of the associated collection event 237, the entry, exit, and adherence criterion/criteria 226, 228, 224, either a specific date and/or time (mm-dd-yyyy, hh:mm), or a period (n) after a preceding collection event in which to perform the associated collection event. The periods n₁, n₂, n₃ in the illustrated embodiment for the respective collection events 237 indicate hours, but in other embodiments can be indicated in minutes or seconds. In another embodiment, the timing or performance time parameter 238 for an associated collection event 237 and for the entry, exit, and adherence criterion/criteria 226, 228, 224 can be modified by another collection event and/or by the criterion/criteria.

For example, in the illustrate embodiment, the entry criterion 226 is modified by the adherence criterion 224 by adding a day if the guidance 230 provided in the form of a question “Are you willing to conduct a test over 3 consecutive days?” is not affirmed by the patient 12 e.g., via a “No” selection provided on the collection device 24. In this illustrated example, the “Affirms guidance” may be a drop down selection provided in a combo box for customizing the adherence criterion 224 of the associated collection event 237, which when selected causes the processor 102 to wait for the accepted/not accepted input (e.g., via buttons 147, 149) before executing the remaining logic (“if not add 1 day to timing”) of the adherence criterion 224. Still further in this example, the processor 102 in accordance with the logic provided in the adherence criterion 224 associated with the exit criterion 228, can set the timing or performance time parameter 238 of the exit criterion 228 to the date (mm-dd-yyyy) that is 3 days after completing the entry criterion 226. It is to be appreciated that the various possible combinations of logic statements which may be performed by the structured collection procedure 70 can be pre-defined and selected by a drop down box in order to be customized in one embodiment, and/or logic statements can be built in another embodiment.

The structured collection procedure 70 can also includes an options parameter 232 associated with each of the collection events 237 as well as with each of the entry, exit, and adherence criterion/criteria 226, 228, 224. The options parameter 232 can have a customizable value(s) to govern whether the data and/or results of the associated collection event 237 or any of the other parameters e.g., entry, exit, and adherence criterion/criteria 226, 228, 224, in the structured collection procedure 70 meets a particular condition such that still further processing may be carried out by the processor 102 if such a condition(s) is meet. For example, such options can be to have the processor 102 automatically send a message to the physician indicating that the patient has started the structured collection procedure 70 via satisfying the entry criterion 226, or to provide a message to the patient and/or the physician if the patient fails a collection event 237 by not satisfying an adherence criterion, or to provide a message to the physician when the patient completes the structured collection procedure 70 when the exit criterion is satisfied, or combinations thereof. For example, such an options parameter 232 can have a global list of such actions which is selected on the display 108, for example, by a selected value from a range of values associated with each option. For example, the options for each parameter can be customized via selecting from a drop down box having option choices (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, . . . , A, B, C, etc.) and in which, for example, Option 1 of having the processor 102 provide a message to the physician if the patient fails a collection event 237 (e.g., by not satisfying an adherence criterion), is shown selected for the before breakfast collection event 237. An example in the context of patient 12 being diabetic is provided hereafter to illustrate further such features provided on a collection device 24 according to the present invention.

A typical patient with Type 2 diabetes may measure his/her blood glucose once per day after waking up in the morning. At a routine office visit, the patient's HbA1C result is found to be elevated. The physician recommends that the person goes through three days of intensified glucose monitoring, and selects the structured collection procedure which is useful for this purpose. The structured collection procedure 70 is then customized as discussed above such that during these three days collection events 237 are defined with a number bG measurement requests 240 such that the patient can be requested by the processor 102 to measure his/her blood glucose before and two hours (e.g., n₁=2) after breakfast, before and two hours (n₂=2) after lunch, before and two hours (n₃=2) after supper, and at bedtime. Additionally, the patient 12 can be requested via other associated requests 240 for each collection event 237 to provide an assessment of the relative size of the ingested meals at the appropriate times as well as an indication how he/she feels with regard to energy level. In the illustrate embodiment of FIG. 7B, the processor 102 can request the indication of energy level with each collection event 237 and the assessment of the relative size of the ingested meals every other collection event 237 (i.e., after the meal). Furthermore, the physician has provided a condition via adherence criterion 224 of having to perform the meal assessment within ±30 minutes of period (n) of the associated collection event 237 in order for such information to be useful in the assessment. Such information is useful to contextualize the collected data and for the analysis performed on the collected data.

Additionally, the physician would like to be notified when the patient has failed to complete the “before breakfast” collection event 237. Therefore, to facilitate the notification option, the physician customizes the structured collection procedure 70 by set the options parameter 232 associated with the “before breakfast” collection event, via a drop down box to “Send a message to the physician if adherence criterion fails.” All other collection events 237 have their associated options parameter 232 default to indicate that the processor 102 is not to take any additional action with regards to the options parameter. It is to be appreciated that the above described features and arrangements illustrated embodiment of FIG. 7B, provides a simply and convenient interface and method for customizing a structured collection procedure, such as for parameter adjustments carried out in step 310 of method 300 previously discussed above in reference to FIG. 7A.

Implementing and Performing a Structured Collection Procedure

FIG. 8A shows a flowchart of the method for implementing and performing a structured collection procedure 70 to obtain contextualized biomarker data from a patient 12 according to an embodiment of the invention. It is to be appreciated that a number of structured collection procedures 70 a-d (FIG. 2) prescribed in step 312 and implement in step 314 (FIG. 7A) may be stored in memory 110 (FIG. 3) of the device 24 and selected for execution at any desired time. For example, upon pressing a certain combination of the buttons 147, 149, the patient can select a desired structured collection procedures 70 a-c and the date when to start a structured testing collection i.e., a set mode function. For example, a date range to choose from may be to begin the testing tomorrow and end at today +90 days, which the processor 102 can also recorded in the data file 145 (FIG. 4) as part of the setup data 163. In such an implementation, the processor 102 as instructed by the software 34 reads the setup data 163 for the selected structured collection procedure 70 and indicates on the display 108 that the device 24 is in a structured testing mode, for example, from one day before the chosen focused testing start date until the end of the structured collection procedure.

It should be appreciated that multiple structured collection procedures 70 a-d can be executed sequentially or simultaneously at any given time. However, in one embodiment, the software 34 permits the user only to schedule another structured collection procedure 70 if the start date is later than the end date of the current structure collection procedure 70 being executed. The software 34 also permits the user to override a scheduled date for a structured collection procedure 70. If a structured collection procedure 70 is scheduled and the user enters the set mode function again, the software 34 causes the processor 102 to display the scheduled date on the display 108 as the default date; if the user exits the set mode without modifying the date, the previously scheduled date stays active. If a structured collection procedure 70 has started, the software 34 permits the user to enter the set mode and cause the processor 102 to cancel the current structured collection procedure 70. Upon cancellation, in one embodiment, the software 34 causes the processor 102 to de-tag (e.g., null the unique identifiers 167) the data records 152 in the data file 145 for the data collected for the cancelled structured collection procedure 70.

Upon reaching the procedure start in step 316 (FIG. 8a ), the processor 102 evaluates the whether entry criterion(s) 226 is met in step 318 to begin the structured collection procedure 70 selected to obtain biomarker data to address a predefined use case or question (e.g., use case parameter 220). In step 320, the processor 102 specifies requests 240 according to their associated timing 238 for each event 237 in the schedule of events 222 for the structured collection procedure 70. It is to be appreciated that the schedule of events 222 provides a sampling plan for biomarker data collection that is performed by the processor 102 to obtain biomarker data in a predefined context. In performing the schedule of events 222 in step 320, the software 34 causes the processor 102 to assign a unique identifier (e.g. incremental count) 167 in a date record 152 which corresponds to each event 237 in the structured collection procedure 70. Optionally, each criterion 226, 228, 224 may also be provide with a date time stamp 169 to indicate when such criterion was satisfied, if desired.

Adherence criterion 224 is then applied to the input received (e.g., biomarker data or information) in response to an request 240 to determine whether the input received meets the adherence criterion 224. When a structure collection procedure 70 has started, all data collected according to requests 240 in the structured collection procedure 70 and which satisfy the adherence criterion 224, if required in step 322, are then assigned (tagged) in the data file 145 by the processor 102 with the unique identifier 167 in step 324. It is to be appreciated that the unique identified also serves to associates the collected data e.g., data values 256 with their event 237, the request 240, and a date-time stamp 169 to indicate when the collection in response to the request 240 was received by the processor 102. While a structured collection procedure 70 is being executed, in one embodiment the software 34 permits the user to perform a measurement on the device 24 at any time without interfering with the episode.

In one embodiment, the software 34 permits reminders for biomarker measurements to be ‘snoozed’ as mentioned above for a period, such as for example, 15 minutes and up to a number of times, for non-critical measurements. In another embodiment, biomarker measurements or data entries that are performed close enough in time to a request 240 in step 320 are designed as valid measurements or data entry for the request 240 by the software 34. As such, the processor 102 will tag the associated data record 152 for the event 237 with the unique identifier 167 for such a biomarker measurement or data entry accordingly. In the case of biomarker measurements, if the measurement is accepted as valid for the request 240, the software 34 causes the processor 102 to prompt the user to input additional information if needed by the structured collection procedure 70 to provide context 252 for data resulting from the request 240. Such additional input, may include, for example, a rating of energy level from 1 to 5, where 1 is low and 5 is high; meal size from 1 to 5 where 1 is small and 5 is large, and exercises from yes or 1 to mean over 30 minutes, and no or 2 to mean less than 30 minutes. Such additional information or contextual information 156 when inputted via the user interface 146 is stored by the processor 102 in the data file 145 associated with the unique identifier 167 for the data event request 240 requiring the additional information also in step 324.

In one embodiment, biomarker measurements determined by the processor 102 as not being close enough in time to the data event request 240 defined by the structured collection procedure 70 will not be tagged with a unique identifier 167 in the data file 145 by the processor 102. Such is illustrated in the shown data file 145 with request 240 d and data values 256 d not being associated with a unique identifier 167 e.g., <null>. An example of a definition of ‘close enough in time to the collection procedure’ as instructed by the structured collection procedure 70 and/or software 34 to cause the processor 102 to make such a determination may be defined as being relative to a prescheduled time or a snoozed time. For example, for pre-prandial measurements up to 15 minutes in anticipation is acceptable; for post-prandial measurements, up to 10 minutes in anticipation is acceptable; and for bedtime measurements, up to 15 minutes in anticipation is acceptable. Other definitions may be provided in other structured collection procedures 70 and/or software 34.

In step 326, the processor 102 then evaluates whether the exit criterion 228 for the selected structured collection procedure 70 is satisfied. If not, then the processor 102 continues with performance the schedule of events 222 until the exit criterion 228 is satisfied. Upon satisfying the exit criterion 228, the collection procedure 70 ends in step 328. In one embodiment, the structured collection procedure 70 may also end if in step 318, the entry criterion 226 is also not met.

In some embodiments, the structured collection procedure 70 can be configured for performance as a paper tool 38; diabetes software 34 integrated into a collection device 24 such as a blood glucose meter 26; diabetes software 34 integrated into the computing device 36, such as a personal digital assistant, handheld computer, or mobile phone; diabetes software 34 integrated into a device reader 22 coupled to a computer; diabetes software 34 operating on a computer 18, 25 such as a personal computer; and diabetes software 34 accessed remotely through the internet, such as from a server 52. When diabetes software 34 is integrated into a collection device 24 or a computing device 36, the diabetes software 34 can prompt the patient to record diary information such as meal characteristics, exercise, and energy levels. The diabetes software 34 can also prompt the patient to obtain biomarker values such a blood glucose values.

GUI Interface Providing a Selectable Structured Collection Procedure

FIG. 8B shows a method of implementing the structured collection procedure via a graphical user interface provided on a collection device 24, which when executed on the collection device, cause the processor 102 to perform the following steps. Upon pressing a certain combination of the buttons 147, 149, the patient 12 can scroll to the structured collection procedure 70 available for selection in a list 329 provided by the processor 102 on the display 108 of the collection device 24 in step 330. If desiring to start the structured collection procedure, the patient 12, for example, selects via pressing an OK button 151 in step 332, the desired structured collection procedure 70. In this example, the entry criteria 226 (FIG. 6) of the structured collection procedure 70 provides information in step 334 which the processor 102 displays to the user on the display 108. After reading the displayed information, the user presses any button in step 336 in which the next procedure in the entry criteria 226 is performed by the processor 102. In this illustrated example, as part of the entry criteria 226, a question is then asked in step 338 by the processor 102. If the patient 12 is still desirous of starting the structured collection procedure, the patient 12 selects the OK button 151 in step 340; otherwise, any other press via button 147, 149 will cause the processor to go back to the list 329, thereby stopping the set-up procedure for the structured collection procedure 70.

After the patient 12 presses the OK button 151, the processor 102 in step 342 will provide on the display 108 an alarm clock 343 for setting the time to begin the selected structured collection procedure 70. It is to be appreciated that all the required events 237 for biomarker sampling, patient information, etc., is automatically schedule by the processor 102 in accordance with the schedule of events 222 for the structured collection procedure 70 in which timing, values, questions, etc., therein may have been adjusted by the clinician 14 as discussed previously above in reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Therefore, other than entering the start time as permitted by the entry criteria 226, no other parameter adjustments in the structured collection procedure 70 is required by the patient 12 (or permitted in one embodiment).

In the illustrated embodiment, the patient in step 344 can adjust the start time of the structured collection procedure for the next day, e.g., Day 1, via buttons 147, 149. Upon confirming the start time in step 346 via pressing the OK button 151, the start time is recorded in memory 110 as part of the setup data 163 in the data file 145 (FIG. 4) for the structured collection procedure 70 by the processor 102. The processor 102 then displays the selection list 329 on the display 108 in step 348, thereby completing the set-up procedure, which satisfies the entry criterion 226, and indicates on the display 108 that the collection device 24 is in a structured testing mode 349.

It should be appreciated that in on embodiment multiple structured collection procedures can be executed sequentially or simultaneously at any given time, and hence in one embodiment the mode 349 provided on the display 108 will indicated which structured testing is being performed. However, in one preferred embodiment, the software 34 does not permits the user to schedule another structured collection procedure, unless the start date is later than the end date of the current structured collection procedure being executed via the user interface 146. It is to be appreciated that processor 102 may re-schedule the following structured collection procedures automatically if the current structured procedure is still running due to the exit criteria 228 not being met. The software 34 in another embodiment may also permit the user to override a scheduled date for a structured collection procedure. If a structured collection procedure is scheduled and the user enters the set mode function again, the software 34 causes the processor 102 to display the scheduled date on the display 108 as the default date; if the user exits the set mode without modifying the date, the previously scheduled date stays active. If a structured collection procedure has started, the software 34 permits the user to enter the set mode and cause the processor 102 to cancel the current structured collection procedure, if desired.

In step 350, an alarm condition 351 can be provided by the processor 102 the next day (as indicated by the symbol Day1) as was set in the above-mentioned procedure the previous day (as indicted by the symbol Start Up). Upon the user selecting any button 147, 149, 151 in step 352, the processor 102 as instructed by schedule of events 222, provides a first scheduled event 237 which is information 353 to be displayed on display 108 in step 354, which the patient 12 acknowledges with any button 147, 149, 151 being pressed in step 356. Next in step 358, the processor 102 is instructed by the schedule of events 222 to execute a second scheduled event, which is to display on the display 108 a question 359 for the patient, which the patient 12 acknowledges with any button 147, 149, 151 pressed in step 360. In the illustrated embodiment, the patient in step 362 indicates the start time of breakfast in minutes from the wake up alarm 351 previously acknowledged in step 352. Upon confirming the meal start time in step 364 to the processor 102, via pressing the OK button 151, the meal start time is recorded in memory 110. For example, the meal start time is recorded in the data file 144 in the associated data record 152 as data for the event 237 by the processor 102. Additionally, in step 366, the processor 102 displays to the patient 12 the information regarding the timing for the next schedule event as a reminder. In step 368, upon reaching the next scheduled event indicted by the schedule of events 222, the processor 102 provides a request 240 on the display 108 for the patient to take a measurement, e.g., a blood glucose measurement. Additionally, in step 370, the processor 102 also makes a request 240 for information on the size of the meal that is to be ingested as required by the schedule of events 222 in order to provide contextual information 156 to the measurement value.

As mentioned above previously, for each event the software 34 causes the processor 102 to assign a unique identifier (e.g. incremental count) 167 (FIG. 4) to the data of each request 240 provided in the schedule of events 222 which meet the adherence criterion 224 in the associated date record 152 for the event 237. Therefore, while the structured collection procedure is being executed, the software 34 permits the user to perform a measurement on the collection device 24 at any time out side the schedule of events 222. Such a measurement since not being performed according to a request 240 will not be evaluated for the adherence criterion 224, and thus will not be provided with a unique identifier 167 in the date file but will only be provided with a date-time stamp and its measurement value. Such data is still recorded in the data file 145, as such data may still be useful for another analysis.

In another embodiment, the software 34 also permits reminders for biomarker measurements, such as provided in step 238. For example, in one embodiment, the processor 102 provides an alarm and/or alert message for a reminder via the indicator 148 and/or on the display 108, respectively, to provide a measurement. For example, at the time 238 of a particular request 240 for taking a biomarker measurement (or reading), the processor 102 prompts the patient 12 by al least displaying on the display the message, “It is now time for your reading.” An audible alarm and/or tactile alarm (vibrations) can be provided by the processor 102 via indicator 148 in another embodiment. For example, in one embodiment, the collection device 24 will provide such a prompt even when already powered on, such as by the patient 12 for another reason, e.g., to conduct a non-scheduled event, when in, for example, a window of time in which to take the requested measurement/reading, or even when powered downed, such as in a standby mode, by waking up to provide the reminder via the prompt. In another embodiment, the provided reminder or prompt can be ‘snoozed’ for a pre-defined period as mentioned above, that still falls within the window of time in which to take the requested (critical) measurement/reading such as for example, 15 minutes or any other such suitable time that falls in the window of time. It is to be appreciated that the snooze feature for a measurement/reading that is considered critical to the structured collection procedure 70, e.g., a measurement/reading needed for helping to address the medical use case or question, needed to meet adherence criteria 224, and/or needed in subsequent analysis for some determination, etc., the snooze feature will not extend the request 240 beyond the window of time provided by the collection procedure 70 via, e.g., adherence criterion 224 for the request 240. For example, in one embodiment one or more events 237 in the schedule of events 222 can be pre-defined as critical as well as being a primary sample via use of the options parameter 232 (FIG. 7B) provided in the structured collection procedure 70. For example, an event 237 which is designated as critical is one that cannot be missed, but if missed can be replaced by another sample already in the date file 145. An event 237 which is designated as a primary sample is one that cannot be missed, and which cannot be replaced by another sample, even if available in the date file 145. In still another embodiment, the snoozing can be up to a number of times, for non-critical measurements. For example, certain events 237 in the structured collection procedure 70 could be designated as having a non-critical request 240, which can be snoozed, such as via selecting such an option that is provided as one of the options parameter 232 (FIG. 7B). The options parameter 232 in this embodiment could for example provide the snooze option as well as a selectable time interval (e.g., 1-60 minutes, etc.) and a selectable number of times (e.g., 1-5, etc.) that the user is permitted to snooze the request 240. In still another embodiment, the collection device 24 permits for an alarm shut off i.e., the indicator 148 if providing the reminder (audible, vibratory) can be shut off for the entire window of time via the user interface 146, but wherein processor 102 still accepts the measurement/reading as long as it is made in the window of time. In still another embodiment, the collection device 24 provides a skip reading option also received by the processor 102 via a selection entered using the user interface 146, e.g., from a list of selectable options, such as for example, snooze, alarm shut off, skip reading, provided on the display 108, in which again no reminder/prompt will be provided as patient 12 has indicated to the processor 102 that he/she does not want to take that particular requested measurement/reading. It is to be appreciated that selecting the skip reading selection option can result in an adherence event 242 resulting in further processing, such as discussed previously above in early sections, if adherence criterion 224 had been associated with the event 237 prompting the request 240.

In still another embodiment, the adherence criteria 224 can require biomarker measurements to be performed close enough in time to a data event request 240. Therefore, if such biomarker measurements are performed within the period specified by the adherence criteria 224, the processor 102 can indicate that the measurements or data entry for the event is acceptable and tags (i.e., assigns the unique identifier 167) the value of the biomarker measurement or data entry in the data file 145 accordingly. In the case of biomarker measurements, if the measurement is accepted as valid for the data event request 240 (i.e., meets the adherence criterion(s) 224), the schedule of events 222 may causes the processor 102 to prompt the user to input additional information if needed by the structured collection procedure 70, such as mentioned above regarding step 370 to provide contextual information 156 (i.e., context) to the measurement received in response to a request 240.

Such contextual information 156 when inputted via the user interface 146 can be stored by the processor 102 in the data file 145 associated with the unique identifier 167 for the data event request 240 requiring the additional information. Biomarker measurements determined by the processor 102 as not being close enough in time to the data event request 240 as defined by the adherence criteria 224 will not be tagged in the data file 145 by the processor 102. Such is illustrated in the shown data file 145 (FIG. 4) with data event request 240 d and data values 256 d not being associated with a unique identifier 167. An example of a definition of ‘close enough in time to the collection procedure’ as instructed by the adherence criteria 224 to cause the processor 102 to make such a determination may be defined as being relative to a prescheduled time or a snoozed time. For example, for pre-prandial measurements up to 15 minutes in anticipation is acceptable; for post-prandial measurements, up to 10 minutes in anticipation is acceptable; and for bedtime measurements, up to 15 minutes in anticipation is acceptable. Other definitions may be provided in other adherence criteria 224 for other events in the schedule of events 222 as well as in other structured collection procedure.

In the illustrated embodiment, the user uses the buttons 147, 149 to scroll to a selection, which is entered by the processor in the data record 152 for the associated request 240 via pressing Okay button 151 in step 372. In one embodiment, the meal size can be indicated via a number range, such as for example, from 1 to 5, where 1 is small and 5 is large. In the illustrated embodiment, additional input for contextual information 156 regarding a rating of energy level from 1 to 5, where 1 is low and 5 is high is requested in step 374, which is entered in the data file 145 as mentioned previously above via the processor 102 receiving input for the request 240 by using the user interface 146 in step 376. In other embodiment, other contextual information 156 may include indicating whether the patient exercised and/or how long. For example, the user interface 146 may be use in which yes or 1 to mean over 30 minutes, and no or 2 to mean less than 30 minutes. In the illustrated embodiment, as the exit criterion 228 is now meet via successfully performing steps 368-376, the structured collection procedure 70 ends in step 378, wherein the processor 102 again displays the list 329, such that the patient 12 may perform other tasks on the collection device 24 if so desired. Reference is now made to FIG. 9 hereafter.

Method of Contextualizing Biomarker Data

FIG. 9 depicts a method 388 of contextualizing biomarker data for diabetes diagnostics and therapy support according to an embodiment of the invention. It is to be appreciated that in the previous embodiments discussed above with reference to FIG. 8A and 8B, the contextual information 156 was requested and recorded with the associated biomarker value by the processor automatically during the structured collection procedure 70. However, in embodiments where such automation is not provided on the collection device 24, and the patient is using a paper tool 38, the collection data can be later associated with its contextual information 156 after, for example, the structured collection procedure 70 is performed in step 390 to create at least data event values 256. If not already done by the collecting device 24, such as in the case of a device with limited memory and processing power or when recordings are made on paper tool 38, such data may be provided to another one of the devices 18, 25, 36 that is running the software 34 and has the ability to associate at least the data event values 256 (FIG. 4) with their respective data event requests 240. This associating of at least the data event values 256 with their respective data event request 240, the date-time stamp 169, and the contextual information 156 results in contextualized (self-monitoring) data 170 in step 392.

With the contextualized data 170, the physiological state of the patient 12 at the time of the measurement can be described. The patient's physiological state can influence a biomarker value, so knowledge of the patient's physiological state aids in the understanding of a biomarker value. The biomarker data can be contextualized because the biomarker data is collected in the context of predetermined events such as last time of meal, meal type, meal distribution, exercise information, sleep quality, sleep duration, waking time, and stressors such as illness and the like. Time-resolved data permits interpreting the biomarker data in context with other information, such as compliance with a structured collection procedure 70 and patient lifestyle events.

Next in step 394, the contextualized data 170 is evaluated using adherence criterion (or criteria) 224 to generate accepted contextualized data 395 that meets the adherence criterion. As the adherence criterion 224 provides a basis for comparison of a data event value 256 with a standard, so the data event value can be either accepted and used or rejected and not used, the adherence criteria can be used to filter data in one embodiment.

For example, FIG. 10 shows a diagram of accepted contextualized data 395 intermingled with non-acceptable contextualized data 397. The diagram vertical axis shows biomarker values 256 including context 250 in the form of a biomarker setpoint, a biomarker upper limit, and a biomarker lower limit. The diagram horizontal axis shows performance times 238 of measurement requests 240 and a sleep period event 237 in which the actual sleep surpassed a recommended minimum amount of sleep as indicated by the dashed line. The accepted contextualized data 395 is that which met the adherence criterion 224. The non-acceptable contextualized biomarker data 397 are either not within the structured collection procedure 70 or did not meet adherence criterion 224. By excluding the non-acceptable contextualized biomarker data 397, the accepted contextualized biomarker data 395 can help improve decision-making. Statistical techniques can be used to view the accepted contextualized biomarker data 395 in a form that conveys additional information to a clinician 14. Examples of statistical techniques include regression methods, variance analysis, and the like.

Referring back to FIG. 9, in another embodiment, step 394 may precede step 392. The accepted contextualized biomarker data 395 in another embodiment can also be used to provide a decentralized disease status assessment in step 396 for diabetes diagnostics and therapy support. For example, the processor of a cable device may be requested to run the assessment discussed previously above regarding the check 264 (FIG. 6E). Based on the results of the assessment and/or the accepted contextualized biomarker data, the parameters 226, 222, 224, 228 as well as the timing 238 and requests 240 in the structured collection procedure 70, may optionally be adjusted in step 398, such as discussed above in reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Additionally, the data may be characterized using a noise function in step 400. Further details regarding another process embodiment for parameter adjustment and the noise function are provided hereafter in later sections. It is to be appreciated that the steps 398 and 400 are optionally, but if applied, then the structured collection procedure 70 may again being prescribed to the patient 12. A brief discussion on the stages of type 2 diabetes disease progression is provided now hereafter in reference to FIG. 11, such that a better understanding of the parameter adjustment is provided in the sections thereafter.

FIG. 11 shows that pre-diabetes 410 is a period prior to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes where the patient 12 is exhibiting symptoms of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) which transitions into postprandial hyperglycemia 412. About the time of a patient being medically diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic (phase I) 414, the patient typically begins oral mono-therapy. However, oral mono-therapy can begin in later stages of postprandial hyperglycemia 412. As type 2 diabetes progresses, the patient enters phase II 416 that includes oral combination therapy. Finally, the type 2 diabetic enters phase III 418 that includes insulin therapy. Although type 1 diabetes is a much more stable disease state because pancreatic beta cells have essentially ceased production of insulin, some type 1 patients also develop type 2 diabetes.

Parameter Adjustment

Referring to FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of another method 420 for adjusting parameters (e.g., in step 398, FIG. 9), and more specifically to bring a contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 into a guideline based target range is shown. The method 420 is preferably facilitated on the clinician computer 25 as an analysis function of the software 34 to assess patient data, e.g., contained in a patient data file 145 that was collected from a completed structured collection procedure 70 and in which the contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 fell outside a target range provided by known guidelines and standards. In many of the structured collection procedures 70, there can be a number of parameter available for adjustment by the clinician therefore a systemic approach implemented on the clinician computer 25 should help to improve the time and effort taken in hoping to bring the biomarker value of concern 422 into the desired target range. With reference also made to FIG. 2, the method 420 comprises in step 424, selecting on the display 82 a contextualized biomarker value of concern 422. The processor 76 will then display a list of parameters in step 424 from which to select. Although any parameter can be selected, in the this example, the parameter selected by the clinician is a parameter which is believed to potentially move the selected contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 from outside of the target range and into the target range. Examples of parameters may include one or more of drugs, dosages, exercise frequency and duration, and meal frequency, timing, size and type provided by the processor as dedicated by the software 34. Other examples of parameters can include one or more of metformin dosage, insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, basal insulin dosage, exercise, and meals. Still other examples of the parameters can include one or more of taspoglutide, aleglitazar, sulfonylureas, bifuanides, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, GLP-1 analogs, and PPAR dual alpha/gamma agonists.

In step 426, the selected parameter(s) is adjusted automatically by the processor 76 using an algorithm in an attempt to bring the contextualized biomarker value of concern into a guideline based target range, such as specified by guidelines and standards 428, while avoiding adverse side effects. The clinician 14 has the option to accept, modify or cancel the adjustment made by the processor in step 426.

Next, the method 420 waits to receive a new value of the selected contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 in step 430. Once a new value is noted in the patient data, such from, e.g., a second run of the structured collection procedure 70 with the modified parameter, the processor in step 432 evaluates the new value. After evaluating the contextualized biomarker value in step 432, the processor 76 then determines in step 434 whether the new contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 is now within the guideline based target range. The parameter adjustment is completed in step 436 once the contextualized biomarker is within range. If not, then the process repeats to adjust the parameter algorithmically in step 426.

FIG. 13 shows a report diagram of a contextualized biomarker value of concern 422 being adjusted into a guideline based target range 438. The horizontal axis shows time 440 with a procedure run one, procedure run two, and procedure run three. The vertical axis show a scale 442 of contextualized biomarker values, and the target range 438 comprising a biomarker setpoint, upper limit, and lower limit. In procedure run one, a first contextualized biomarker value 422 is obtained that is outside the target range 438. After procedure run one, a parameter such as metformin dosage of a drug is adjusted. In procedure run two, a second contextualized biomarker value 422N is obtained that continues to be outside the target range 438 although much closer to the target range than the first contextualize biomarker value from procedure run one. Again, the same parameter is adjusted. In procedure run three, a third contextualized biomarker value 422O is obtained that is now within the target range 438.

Another parameter suitable for adjustment in method 420 is adjusting for an estimated insulin-to-carbohydrate (I:C) ratio. This adjustment can be performed by correlating the effect of a meal to the bolus insulin dosage for the determination of an I:C ratio estimate. The I:C ratio estimate is used to cancel out a meal effect. For performing the insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio estimate adjustment, meals having predefined ratios of carbohydrates, fat, protein, predefined uptake speed, and predefined calories adjusted to a person's weight are used. Any deviation from the expected blood glucose range is used to calculate an updated estimated insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio. Two consecutive measurements within the acceptance range are typically required to establish a robust insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio estimate. The estimate can be confirmed by skipping meals and verifying expected blood glucose effects.

For example, another parameter suitable for adjustment in method 420 is adjusting for an oral agent to treat type 2 diabetes such as metformin. For example, in adjusting a metformin dosage, which is the parameter, the biomarker of concern would be fasting blood glucose. Adjustments to the metformin dosage would attempt to bring the fasting blood glucose measurements within the desired fasting blood glucose range while also avoiding significant gastro-intestinal side effects and in rare cases the risk of lactic acidosis. In this case, the fasting blood glucose measurements would need to be further contextualized with patient information on side effects.

In other example, another parameter suitable for adjustment in method 420 is adjusting for basal insulin delivery dosage(s) for type 1 and type 2 diabetics on insulin therapy. In adjusting the basal insulin delivery dosage(s), which is the parameter, the biomarker of concern would be fasting blood glucose. Adjustments to the basal insulin delivery dosage(s) would attempt to bring the fasting blood glucose measurements within the desired fasting blood glucose range.

Still other parameters suitable for adjustment in method 420 is adjusting for dosages or switching drugs, such as for example, parameter adjustment embodiments can also be configured for adjusting one or more of sulfonylureas, biguanides such as metformin, thiazolidinediones such as pioglitazone hydrochloride, rosiglitazone maleate, ciglitazone, troglitazone or balaglitazone, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors such as sitagliptin phosphate, saxagliptin, vildagliptin, alogliptin, carmegliptin or denagliptin, and combinations.

Still other parameters suitable for adjustment in method 420 is adjusting for GLP-1 analogs such as Exenatide (Byetta™), NN2211 (Liraglutide), GLP-1(7-36) amide, GLP-1(7-37), AVE-0010 (ZP-10), R1583 (Taspoglutide), GSK-716155 (albiglutide, GSK/Human Genome Sciences), BRX-0585 (Pfizer/Biorexis) and CJC-1134-PC (Exendin-4:PC-DAC™) and for PPAR dual alpha/gamma agonists such muraglitazar, aleglitazar or peliglitazar. Specific parameter adjustments can be configured for taspoglutide or aleglitazar. The characteristics of taspoglutide are disclosed in WO 2000/34331 “Analogues of GLP-1” assigned to Societe de Conseils de Recherches et d'Applications Scientifiques S. A., which is hereby incorporated by reference. The characteristics of aleglitazar are disclosed in WO 2002/092084 “Carboxylic acid substituted oxazole derivatives for use as par-alpha and -gamma activators in the treatment of diabetes” assigned to F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Noise is another factors upon which adjustments to the parameters of a structured collection procedure 70 can be based which is further discussed hereafter in reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

Noise

To understand better the effect of noise on biomarker measurements, FIG. 14 shows a diagram of the relationship of the component parts of total noise. As shown, total noise 450 comprises system noise 452, procedural noise 454, and measurement method noise 456. Total noise 450 is a function relating measurement noise, procedural noise, and system noise, and can be described by the following equation:

Total Noise=ƒ(Measurement, Procedural, System),

where Measurement, Procedural, and System noise are the constituent parts of the function. In FIG. 14, the horizontal axis shows time 458, and the vertical axis shows biomarker values 460. The vertical axis further shows a biomarker setpoint 462, upper range 464, and lower range 466. A new noise characterized biomarker value 468 is shown which has been adjusted for system noise 452, procedural noise 454, measurement noise 456, and combinations thereof.

Measurement noise 456 is the noise of the collection device 24 used to take measurements, and is typically readily available directly from the literature provided by the manufacturer of the collection device. Such measurement noise 456 is typically caused by variability in a measurement system or collection device. Such variability includes variations among test strip batches, collection device such as in the calibration of a blood glucose meter, and in the specific limitations of particular collection devices. For example, a typical blood glucose measuring device has a reported measurement variance of below 100 mg/dL±15 mg/dL and at or above 100 mg 15% of the actual value. The measurement noise 456 may also be caused by variations in the surrounding such as temperature, humidity and pressure.

Procedural noise 454 is the noise contributed by the structured testing procedure provided in the structured collection procedure 70. Contributions of such procedural noise can include the manner in which data is collected, such as magnitude (size), velocity (speed), and timing of the steps in the structured collection procedure 70 as well as the patient's activity before the application of such step such as meals, exercise, effect of medications, variations in the sampling method such as sample variations due to location of lancing sites, and the like.

System noise 452 is the variability in a biomarker value caused by variations in each individual's physiology. It is to be appreciated that chronic diseases, such as diabetes, manifests itself differently in each patient because of each patient's unique physiology that is influenced by variable lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and sleep. When a patient collects biomarker data such as glucose values, variations in the patient's physiological state can create system noise that can complicate a clinician's interpretation of the biomarker data.

It is to be appreciated that the use of both system and procedural noise 452, 454 by the structured collection procedure 70 is endemic. Therefore, by understanding the pattern of both system and procedural noise 452, 454, the determination of such constituents can be streamlined through the use of a personal procedure in which these noise constituents can be calculated. For example, total noise can be measured by performing a typically collection for a biomarker value, and then the processor 102 in using the available measurement noise 456 of the collection device 24 from the manufacture's literature and a population based value for procedural noise 454, calculate an estimate of the system noise 454. Alternatively, the processor 102 can first calculate the system noise 452 through use of a specific protocol, a measurement as described above for total noise 450, and the available measurement noise 456, to calculate an estimate the procedural noise 454. For example, a specific protocol for measuring system noise 456 could be to test for the magnitude of a patient's physiological response to exercise, by comparing bG level measurement with exercise performed and without exercise performed. Similar protocols can also be developed for testing the affect of site location selection on sample measurements, affect of certain meal types and sizes, affect of variations for sleep, affect of stress, and for any other such factors affecting a patient's physiological response. In one embodiment, such system noise 452 is determined as described above and then applied as a constant for the purposes of a single, short duration protocol, and in another embodiment as a value with continual long term drifts over the life of the patient.

A population-based procedural noise 454 can be measured by the application of a protocol in a clinical trial that is designed to measure this noise. For example, a simple two-tiered study could be developed which first establishes the system noise 452 of the study participant as described above, then, using this information, combined with the measurement noise 456, would establish the procedural noise 454 as seen by that specific study participant. Executing this procedure across multiple study participants yields a population based procedural noise 454 that then can be used for general application. The procedural noise contribution can be shaped by constraints that are placed on the structured collection procedure, but can never be eliminated. An example of constraining the procedural noise 454 would be to require predefined meals of known loading being consumed in place of ad-hoc meals. In another example, a clinical trial to measure the procedural noise 454 can be created which is iterated along with making changes to reduce specifically the procedural noise.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of a method 470 for creation of a noise modeling function, which can be used to characterize noise thereby enabling one to modify parameters such as criterion and events in a structured collection procedure 70. In step 472, contextualized biomarker data of concern 422 in received data, such as provided in the data file 145, are selected such as in the manner previously discussed above in reference to FIG. 12. In one embodiment, the contextualized biomarker data is contextualized biomarker data collected from using a specialized noise collection procedure 70 or from a contextualized biomarker data set collected using a structured collection procedure 70 used to help address a medical use case or question. In some embodiments, the selected contextualized biomarker data can also be filtered in step 472, such as applying adherence criterion 224 to the contextualized biomarker values in the received data to produce accepted contextualized biomarker values of concern in the received data, as previously discussed above in reference to FIG. 9. In step 474, the processor 76 calculates measured noise from the contextualized biomarker data by statistically assessing the variation within the data set. Measured noise is an instance of total noise in the actual data set that is caused by variations that exists about a measured value attributable to random events.

Next, a noise modeling function is created in step 476 based on the total noise function algorithm using the contextualized biomarker data 422, measurement noise 456, procedural noise 454, and a number of biomarker values at various data points. An example of a noise modeling function follows the use of statistical covariance between a known measurement method for producing a noise estimate, a procedural noise estimate based on population based or personal historical data, and system noise to create a functional relationship between the three noise sources. The biomarker values at the various data points in the data set are then used with the noise function to estimate the noise of a dataset with the same sample count. If the calculated noise estimate is equal to or within a threshold window based on sample counts, then the noise function is considered valid.

Some embodiments can further comprise validating the noise modeling function in step 478 by calculating total noise using the quantity of contextualized biomarker data points and the noise modeling function, and comparing the calculated noise estimate against the measured noise of the contextualized biomarker data to determine whether they are equal within a given confidence interval. Total noise thus is defined as the variability in the biomarker data as obtained from a measurement device. Total noise should be characterized, minimized, and ideally removed. The noise estimate is calculated utilizing the noise modeling function, the measurement method and procedural noise values, combined with the estimated system noise and the calculated or predetermined number of data points in a prospective data structured collection procedure. The calculated total noise estimate is compared against the measured noise of the supplied data set and evaluated for equality within a given confidence interval. The result of method 470 is the validated noise function in step 480. Reference hereafter is made to FIGS. 16A and 16B.

Use Case Example

To help illustrate the above benefits provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the following use case example is provided. Although the contextualization of biomarker data for diabetes diagnostics and therapy support is discussed hereafter with reference to a structured collection procedure using a biomarker of concern, namely glucose, various other embodiments can be configured for other biomarkers, such as for example, triglycerides, cholesterol, low density lipids, high density lipids, and the like, from the elements of creating a structured collection procedure (FIGS. 5A and 5B and 7A and 7B), performing a structured collection procedure (FIGS. 8A and 8B), adjusting parameters (FIGS. 9 and 12), and creating a noise modeling function (FIG. 15).

For this use case example, FIGS. 16A and 16B show various interactions among a clinician 14, patient 12, and operations 500 of selected embodiments for contextualizing biomarker data for diabetes assessment and therapy support. The various interactions can occur in a clinical setting, in a patient's setting, such as a home, with clinician interaction via communications (FIG. 2), or in a patient's setting to collect biomarker data and then in a clinician's setting for optimization. The operations 500 can be performed on a paper tool 38, on a device 24 or 36 having diabetes software 34, or on a computer 18 or 25 operating installed diabetes software or operating remote diabetes software from a server 52 through the network 50.

In step 502, the clinician 14 selects a biomarker of concern such as, for example, glucose. After selecting the biomarker of concern, the clinician can have the patient 12 perform a decentralized assessment of diabetes disease status. A current assessment of diabetes disease status can aid the clinician 14 in determining which parameter to adjust in step 504. The clinician defines a structured collection procedure that can be tailored for the patient in step 506, and verifies that entry criterion is met in step 508. For example, one particular structured collection procedure may be used to determine an effective carbohydrate to insulin (C:I) ratio of the patient 12, or another to determine the patient's sensitivity to insulin. In the carbohydrate to insulin (C:I) ratio example, the entry criterion may be to ensure that the patient is willing and able to perform an 8-day testing challenge, has a blood glucose level above 130 mg/dL, and had no recent low blood sugar events. In the insulin sensitivity example, the entry criterion may be to ensure that the patient is willing and able to perform a 4-day testing challenge, has a blood glucose level above 150 mg/dL, and had no recent low blood sugar events.

Optionally in step 510, the clinician 14 can have the system (e.g., clinician computer 25) in its operations 500 select a noise characterization procedure, e.g., to help define a noise function, such as provided above in reference to FIG. 15. In some embodiments, the selected noise characterization procedure will require the patient 12 to collect biomarker data in step 512 for the noise function in order to establish a noise dependent resolution for each biomarker value collected. In other embodiments, the noise dependent resolution can be established without collection of biomarker data from the patient in step 514. If established, the noise dependent resolution is then used by the system (e.g., the collection device 24 and/or the clinician device 25) in its operation to evaluate and present the significance of any potential change to the biomarker value in step 516.

In step 518, the patient then performs the structured collection procedure 70. For example, and with reference to FIG. 3, the patient is provided with and performs the structured collection procedure 70 implemented on the portable collection device 24 for this step. In this example, the collection device 24 comprises a display 108, a user interface 146, a measurement engine 138 to measure a biomarker value, and memory 110 containing the data file 145 and a structured collection procedure 70. The structured collection procedure 70 can have one or more parameters defining entry, exit, and adherence criterion 226, 228, 224 as well as one or more collection events 237 and guidance 230, timing 238 and optionally an options parameter 232 associated with each of the collection events 237.

In the example of determining an effective carbohydrate to insulin (C:I) ratio of the patient 12, such guidance (and instructions) 230 may include information provided in preparing the patient for the testing and information for what to do after each test. Such information for preparing the patient in the carbohydrate to insulin (C:I) ratio example may include: eat nothing for at least 4 hours before starting the test; drinking water is permitted; have no recent low blood sugar events; take no fast acting insulin (meal bolus or correction bolus) for at least 4 hours; any long acting insulin (basal) must be taken between 2 and 12 hours prior to the start of the test; do not begin test if you are ill or experiencing abnormal stress; do not consume coffee, tea, food, or alcohol before or during the test; awake early enough to begin the test between 7 am and 8 am; familiarize yourself with all steps of the structured collection procedure before beginning the test; and eat normally for at least three days prior to the test. Information for what to do after each test performed in accordance to the requested collection event in this example may include call your physician if you experience a low blood glucose event, or if bG is within 25 mg/dL of starting, and this is the third consecutive test with this C:I ratio, testing is complete.

The collection device 24 may further comprise a processor 102 connected to the display 108, the user interface 146, the measurement engine 138, and the memory 110 as well as power supply 150 for powering the collection device 24. Software 34 is also provided on the collection device 24, and provides instructions that when executed by the processor 102 causes the processor to perform the following processing steps. In step 518, the processor 102 reads the structured collection procedure 70 from memory 110, and runs the structured collection procedure automatically in step 518, such as for example, if the entry criterion 226 is satisfied. In step 518, the processor 102 sends automatically the requests 240 to the display 108 for the measurement of the biomarker value and/or for the information according to the timing 238 of each of the collection events 237 prescribed in the structured collection procedure 70.

In step 518, the processor 102 stores automatically each biomarker value measured by the measurement engine 138 or information entered via the user interface 146 in an associated data record 152 in the data file 145 in response to a sent request 240. The processor 102 also assesses the adherence criterion 224 and whether further processing is required as defined by the options parameter 232.

For example, in the above C:I ratio example, the structured collection procedure 70 conducted by the patient may include the following processes. First, at start of each daily test, which is to begin 30 minutes before a planned (and first) morning meal, the patient 12 uses the collection device 24 to confirm that his/her blood glucose level is >130 mg/dL. If not, the processor 102 advises that the patient 12 should stop and try again the following day. If okay, then the date-time and glucose value of the first biomarker value is recorded by the processor 102. The patient 12 then uses the user interface 146 of the collection device 24 to record the starting Carbohydrate to Insulin (C:I) ratio used in the first daily test. Next, the patient will record the total carbohydrates and carbohydrates from fiber via the user interface 146. Fiber is then subtracted from the total amount of carbohydrates by the processor 102 to indicate an amount of carbohydrates requiring insulin. This amount is then divided by the carbohydrates indicated in the starting C:I ratio and then times by the insulin indicated in the starting C:I ratio by the processor 102 to give a new insulin dose for a meal bolus. It is to be appreciated that the insulin dose may be rounded down to the nearest unit supported by the injection device. For example, if supported unit is 1, then if the resulting insulin dose is 1.26, such a dosage is rounded down to 1 unit. The patient 12 then 30 minutes after collection of the first biomarker value uses the collection device 24 to confirm again that his/her blood glucose level is >130 mg/dL. If not, the processor 102 advises on the display 108 that the patient 12 should stop and try again the following day. If okay, then the date-time and glucose value of the second biomarker value is recorded by the processor 102. The patient 12 is then instructed to eat the meal by the processor 102. After two hours from the collection of the second biomarker value, the processor 102 may prompt the patient 12, via the indicator 148 and/or display 108, wherein the patient 12 uses the collection device 24 to measure his/her blood glucose level, wherein the date-time and glucose value of the third biomarker value is recorded by the processor 102.

Finally, in step 518, the processor 102 ends the structured collection procedure 70 automatically when the exit criterion 228 is satisfied. For example, to determine whether the exit criterion 228 is met, the processor 102 can evaluate and display on the display 108 the significance of any noted change in the biomarker data. For example, in the above C:I ratio example, the processor 102 subtracts the second biomarker value from the third biomarker value to determine the effectiveness of the C:I ratio used. If the resulting difference of the subtraction is greater than 25 mg/dl, then the carbohydrates in the C:I ratio used for the next day testing is incremented by 1 unit wherein the structured collection procedure 70 repeats the sampling plan i.e., schedule of evens 222, again for the next day. For example, if the starting C:I ratio is 30:1, then after the results of the first test day, the C:I ratio would be 31:1 for the next day test. Likewise, if the difference is less than −25 mg/dL, then the carbohydrates in the C:I ratio used for the next day testing is decreased by 1 unit. However, if the resulting difference is within ±25 mg/dL, then the C:I ratio is not changed for the next test. Additionally, as mentioned above in the instruction example, if the resulting difference is within ±25 mg/dL and the completed test is the third consecutive test with the same C:I ratio, then in this case, the exit criteria 228 is satisfied in step 518, wherein the processor 102 automatically ends the structured collection procedure 70.

With the data from the structured collection procedure 70, the clinician then can evaluate the presented significance of the change in step 520 on the clinician computer 25 to determine if a parameter change is required. For example, in the above C:I ratio example, a parameter change may be indicated if no effective C:I ratio was determined by the structured collection procedure in step 518. If the clinician determines that a parameter change is required, the clinician will use a method for adjusting parameters (e.g., the method depicted by FIGS. 9 and 12) to adjust the parameter in step 522. For example, in step 524, optionally, the operations 500 of the system (e.g., the clinician computer 25) can provide better control procedure execution, such as by providing increased guidance, customized reminders, and addition flexibility in testing that take into account other lifestyle factors of the patient if such is determined as necessary by the clinician 14 in step 522. In step 526, the patient 12 then performs the adjusted procedure using the collection device 24. Next, in step 528, the operations 500 of the system (e.g., the collection device 24 and/or the clinician computer 25) calculates and/or estimates, assesses any change in the contextualized biomarker value 410, and in step 530 evaluates and presents the significance of the change to the clinician 14. In some embodiments, the clinician 14 can repeat the method for adjusting parameter to optimize parameter adjustment as discussed above previously.

Thus, by the above disclosure embodiments concerning a structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease and devices thereof are disclosed. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the teachings can be practiced with embodiments other than those disclosed. The disclosed embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation, and the invention is only limited by the claims that follow. 

What is claimed is: 1.-40. (canceled)
 41. A structured testing method for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient with a chronic disease, comprising: selecting a structured collection procedure on a computer for the diagnostic or therapy support; having a processor of the computer retrieve automatically from memory the structured collection procedure, said structured collection procedure being based on a medical use case and having parameters defining: entry criterion which establishes conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data, a schedule of events, each of said events comprising at least one or more of a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request (240) for patient action, a request for information, and a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, adherence criterion which is used to qualitatively assess whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case, and exit criterion which establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure; and prescribing the selected structured collection procedure to the patient, wherein the processor of the computer provides as output the selected structured collection procedure to the patient to perform when prescribed.
 42. The method in claim 41 wherein the selection of the structured collection procedure is automatically chosen from a plurality of a plurality of structured collection procedures based upon the processor receiving a defined medical question.
 43. The method in claim 41 wherein the selection of the structured collection procedure is automatically chosen from a plurality of structured collection procedures when a defined entry criterion of one of the plurality of structured collection procedures is met.
 44. The method in claim 41 wherein the selected structured collection procedure is prescribed to the patient on a collection device, and wherein the structured collection procedure starts automatically when the entry criterion is met.
 45. The method in claim 41 wherein the selected structured collection procedure is prescribed to the patient on a collection device, and wherein the structured collection procedure ends automatically when the exit criterion is met.
 46. The method in claim 41 wherein the selected structured collection procedure is prescribed to the patient on a collection device, and wherein the schedule of event can dynamic adapt based upon not meeting the adherence criterion.
 47. The method in claim 41 wherein the selected structured collection procedure is prescribed to the patient on a collection device, and wherein the exit criterion is met when a group of data has satisfied the adherence criterion.
 48. The method in claim 41 wherein the selected structured collection procedure further comprises an adherence event which causes the processor to additional actions as a consequence of an event in the schedule of events failing to met the adherence criterion.
 49. The method in claim 41 wherein the adherence criterion is used to validate event values against event requests within a give tolerance of time or value.
 50. The method in claim 41 further comprising permitting on the computer adjustment of the parameters of the selected structured collection procedure.
 51. The method in claim 41 further comprising permitting on the computer adjustment of the parameters of the selected structured collection procedure to adjust for noise.
 52. The method in claim 41 wherein the request for information provides contextual information to the biomarker data.
 53. The method in claim 52 wherein the medical use case is selected from optimizing an insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio, determining bolus timing in regard to a meal start, and determining an exercise equivalent.
 54. The method in claim 52 wherein the medical question is one of to control the biomarker in a predefined context, and to optimize the biomarker in a predefined context.
 55. The method in claim 52 wherein the medical question is selected from the group consisting of, therapy onset, type of therapy, oral mono-therapy, oral combination therapy, insulin therapy, lifestyle therapy, adherence to therapy, and therapy efficacy.
 56. The method in claim 55 wherein the oral mono-therapy is selected from the group consisting of, sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, GLP-1 analogs, taspoglutide, PPAR dual alpha/gamma agonists, and aleglitazar.
 57. The method in claim 55 wherein the oral combination therapy is one or more selected from the group consisting of, sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, meglitinides, dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitors, GLP-1 analogs, taspoglutide, PPAR dual alpha/gamma agonists, and aleglitazar.
 58. The method in claim 55 wherein the insulin therapy is one or more selected from the group consisting of, insulin injection or inhalation, type of insulin, and split of insulin in basal and bolus.
 59. The method in claim 41 wherein the schedule of event can be delay upon not meeting the adherence criterion due to sickness, stress, or unable to take meal or exercise.
 60. The method in claim 41 further comprising creating a noise function and using the noise function to adjust the structure collection protocol for the biomarker.
 61. The method in claim 60 wherein the noise function comprises, selecting contextualized biomarker data; calculating measured noise from the contextualized biomarker data; and creating a noise modeling function based on an algorithm using contextualized biomarker data, measurement noise, procedural noise, system noise, and a number of biomarker value data points.
 62. The method in claim 61, further comprising, validating the noise function by calculating total noise using a quantity of contextualized biomarker data points and the noise modeling function, and comparing a calculated noise estimate against a measured noise of the contextualized biomarker data to determine whether the calculated noise estimate and measured noise are equal within a given confidence interval.
 63. The method in claim 62 wherein the noise validating function is validated to identify non-conformance of contextualized biomarker values using a technique selected from the group consisting of statistical based algorithm, model based algorithm.
 64. The method in claim 41 further comprises contextualizing the biomarker data by associating the date event request with the data event values; evaluating the contextualized biomarker data for the at least one adherence criterion; and accepting contextualized biomarker data that meets the at least one adherence criterion.
 65. (canceled)
 66. A method of performing a structured collection procedure, comprising: providing a collection device comprising a hand-held device having an improved user interface for diagnostic or therapy support of a patient and for improving compliancy with a structured collection procedure with a chronic disease, comprising a display; a user interface; and a processor coupled to the display and the user interface; and program instructions that when executed by the processor causes the processor to: prompt a plurality of medical use cases or questions related to the chronic disease for selection on the display, receive a selected medical use case or question via the user interface, select automatically the structured collection procedure for the diagnostic or therapy support of the patient with the chronic disease based on the selected medical use case or question from a plurality of structured collection procedures stored in a memory, and implement the selected structured collection procedure, said selected structured collection procedure having parameters defining a schedule of events, each of said events comprising a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, wherein the at least one type of biomarker data comprises a biomarker measurement and wherein when the biomarker measurement is below or at a prescheduled time when compared to a data event request as determined by the processor through a comparison of a time of the biomarker measurement to a time of the data event request, the processor will give the biomarker measurement a unique identifier in a data file, and when the time of the biomarker measurement compared to the time of the data event request is above the prescheduled time, the processor will not give the unique identifier; and when the unique identifier is provided by the processor, a user is prompted by the processor to provide context for the biomarker measurement; when the unique identifier is provided, the processor is caused to generate and display a prompt for the user via the display to provide the context by providing a rating related to the biomarker measurement to be stored by the processor, and upon cancelation of the structured collection procedure, the processor nulls the unique identifier to improve compliancy with the collection procedure; and the prompt requesting the rating comprises prompting the user to input a rating selection via the display of the rating generated by the processor, the processor is configured to determine at least one exit criterion is met to exit from the selected structured collection procedure, to generate a notification of the exit from the selected structured collection procedure, and to display on the display the biomarker measurement and the context for the biomarker measurement including the rating selection; and an indicator connected to the processor and which operates under the control of the processor to emit at least one of audible, tactile, and visual alerts through the user interface at least one of as reminders regarding the request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data for each of said events of said schedule of events of said selected structured collection procedure or as the notification of the exit from the selected structured collection procedure; and authorizing the structured collection procedure on the collection device.
 67. A computer readable storage medium storing instruction that, when executed by a processor of a computer, causes the processor to perform a structured testing method to obtain contextualized biomarker data from a patient, said method comprising: retrieving automatically from an electronic component a structured collection procedure, said structured collection procedure being based on a medical use case and having parameters defining: entry criterion which establishes conditions needed to be met prior to obtaining biomarker data, a schedule of events, each of said events comprising a performance time, guidance to perform the event, a request for patient action, a request for information, a request for collection of at least one type of biomarker data, and combinations thereof, adherence criterion which is used to qualitatively assess whether an event performed according to the schedule of events provided data which is acceptable to addressing the medical use case, and exit criterion which establishes the conditions needed to be met prior to exiting the structured collection procedure; permitting adjustment of the parameters of the selected structured collection procedure; and prescribing the selected structured collection procedure to the patient, wherein the processor of the computer provides as output the selected structured collection procedure to the patient to perform when prescribed. 